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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Using the Activity-based Anorexia Rodent Model to Study the Neurobiological Basis of Anorexia Nervosa
Published on: October 22, 2015
Abnormal Spontaneous Regional Brain Activity in Young Patients With Anorexia Nervosa
Maria Seidel1, Viola Borchardt2, Daniel Geisler1
1Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Objective:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have repeatedly shown alterations in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). These alterations might be driven by baseline signal characteristics such as the (fractional) amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF/ALFF), as well as regional signal consistency (ie, regional homogeneity [ReHo]) within circumscribed brain regions. Previous studies have also demonstrated gray matter (pseudo-) atrophy in underweight individuals with AN. Here we study fALFF/ALFF and ReHo in predominantly adolescent patients with AN, while taking gray matter changes into consideration.
Method:
Resting state fMRI data were acquired from a sample of 148 female volunteers: 74 underweight patients with AN and 74 age-matched female healthy controls (HC).
Results:
Group differences for fALFF and ReHo measures were found in several AN-relevant brain regions, including networks related to cognitive control, habit formation, and the ventral visual stream. Furthermore, the magnitude of correlation between gray matter volume/thickness and fALFF and ReHo were reduced in AN compared to HC.
Conclusion:
Abnormal local resting state characteristics in AN-related brain-networks as well as reduced structure-function relationships may help to explain previously reported task-related and classical resting state neural alterations in underweight AN. Patients with AN may serve as a valuable population for investigating dynamic changes in the relationships between brain structure and function.
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