Developmental Perspectives on Eating Disorders: A Review and Research Update on the ABCD Study

Numerous publications utilize data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. This review aimed to evaluate how data from the ABCD cohort contributes to understanding the pathophysiology of incipient eating disorders.

Searches were completed using PubMed and the ABCD Study research publications database. All available neuroimaging articles assessing prevalence and predictors of disordered eating/eating disorders were included.

Thirty-eight articles met inclusion criteria, 10 of which presented neuroimaging results, all analyzing baseline brain data. The majority (n = 9) assessed brain structure and function in children with binge eating (BE)/binge eating disorder (BED). Results were inconsistent across imaging modalities. Structural MRI studies included widespread increases in gray matter density and reductions in cortical thickness associated with eating pathology. Task-based fMRI studies reported conflicting findings, with frontostriatal activation during reward processing in children with BE/BED reduced, increased, or not different compared to controls. Resting-state fMRI analyses consistently identified reduced functional connectivity in key frontal circuits, although patterns differed when samples were stratified by sex or BMI. Non-imaging studies showed positive associations between eating disorders/disordered eating and several sociodemographic, cognitive, behavioral, and biological correlates.

Alterations in brain structure and function associated with binge eating are identified in neuroimaging analyses of baseline scans from the ABCD cohort, with inconsistent results. One potential pattern suggests alterations in reward system function, although the direction and exact location of such alterations are unclear. Consistency in methodological approaches is necessary to allow patterns in neural alterations to be more clearly identified. There is significant and ongoing potential for the ABCD Study dataset to quantify developmental aspects of binge eating. Recommendations for future analyses as the sample progresses through puberty and eating disorder prevalence increases are also presented.