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Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Assessing Activity-based Anorexia in Mice
Published on: May 14, 2018
Expression of positive emotions differs in illness and recovery in anorexia nervosa
Marcela Marin Dapelo1, Sharon Hart1, Christiane Hale1
1King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychological Medicine, London SE5 8AF, UK.
Abstract:
People with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) display reduced facial expression of emotions. This study investigated the expression of positive affect in response to a film, examining Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles in 20 women who have recovered from AN (REC), 20 with acute AN and 20 healthy controls (HC). The results indicated that the REC group exhibited Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles with higher duration and intensity than the AN group, comparable to the HC group. The findings warrant longitudinal studies to confirm that reduced expressivity is linked to acute AN, ameliorating after recovery.
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