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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Using the Activity-based Anorexia Rodent Model to Study the Neurobiological Basis of Anorexia Nervosa
Published on: October 22, 2015
Pilot study: is the fear response the same in anorexia nervosa as in controls?
C Laird Birmingham1, Shelley Sidhu2, John Anderson3
1Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Suite 212, 2628 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 4B4, Canada. carl.birmingham@ubc.ca.
Purpose:
To determine whether the fear response is the same in AN as in controls.
Method:
We recorded the EEG in 10 participants with a history of AN and in 10 controls during a fear stimulus. The response of the brain was recorded using EEG LORETA. The recording was analyzed for a marked increase in activity in the amygdala, uncus, insula, and anterior cingulate from 300 to 500 ms following the stimulus.
Results:
The order or response of the amygdala, uncus, insula, and anterior cingulate was not significantly different in AN and controls.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that the brain's response to a fear stimulus is not significantly different in AN and controls.
Level Of Evidence:
Level 3, case-control study.
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