Dynamic Changes in Local Brain Connectivity and Activity: A Longitudinal Study in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa (AN), involve disrupted neural circuitry.
• While AN alters resting-state functional connectivity, the brain mechanisms during weight restoration remain unclear.
• This study examines longitudinal changes in brain function during AN treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate longitudinal changes in brain functional connectivity during weight restoration in AN.
• To assess how regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC), voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC), and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations change with weight gain.
• To determine the association between these functional brain changes and weight restoration in AN patients.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were collected from 174 female participants.
• The study included 87 underweight AN patients (pre- and post-treatment) and 87 age-matched healthy controls.
• Analysis focused on ReHo, DC, VMHC, and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations.

Main Results:

• Longitudinal changes in ReHo, DC, VMHC, and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations were observed in AN patients after weight restoration.
• The degree of normalization varied across measures, with VMHC showing the highest recovery (66%).
• ReHo and VMHC changes demonstrated a linear association with weight gain.

Conclusions:

• rs-fMRI measures exhibit varying recovery levels post-weight restoration in AN.
• Weight restoration is associated with functional brain changes suggesting normalization.
• While not all changes correlated with weight gain, the overall trend is positive for brain recovery.