The potential application of event-related potentials to enhance research on reward processes in eating disorders

Reward-related processes have been posited as key mechanisms underlying the onset and persistence of eating disorders, prompting a growing body of research in this area. Existing studies have primarily utilized self-report, behavioral, and functional magnetic resonance imaging measures to interrogate reward among individuals with eating disorders. However, limitations inherent in each of these methods (e.g., poor temporal resolution) may obscure distinct neurocognitive reward processes, potentially contributing to underdeveloped models of reward dysfunction within eating disorders. The temporal precision of event-related potentials (ERPs), derived from electroencephalography, may thus offer a powerful complementary tool for elucidating the neurocognitive underpinnings of reward. Indeed, a considerable amount of research in other domains of psychopathology (e.g., depression, substance use disorders), as well as studies investigating food reward among non-clinical samples, highlights the utility of ERPs for probing reward processes. However, no study to date has utilized ERPs to directly examine reward functioning in eating disorders.

In this paper, we review evidence underscoring the clinical utility of ERP measures of reward, as well as a variety of reward-related tasks that can be used to elicit specific ERP components with demonstrated relevance to reward processing. We then consider the ways in which these tasks/components may be used to help answer a variety of open questions within the eating disorders literature on reward.

Given the promise of ERP measures of reward to the field of eating disorders, we ultimately hope to spur and guide research in this currently neglected area.

Abnormalities in reward functioning appear to contribute to eating disorders. Event-related potentials (ERPs) offer temporally precise measures of neurocognitive reward processing and thus may be important tools for understanding the relationship between reward and disordered eating. However, research in this area is currently lacking. This paper attempts to facilitate the use of ERPs to study reward among individuals with eating disorders by reviewing the relevant theories and methods.