Open AccessNeurofunctional areas related to food appetency in anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
Juán José Cervantes-Navarrete,
Sarael Alcauter-Solórzano,
Carlos Miguel-Bueno,
Jorge González-Olvera,
Roger CarrilloMezo,
Maria de Lourdes Martínez-Gudiño,
Alejandro de Jesús Caballero-Romo
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.23
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2011-7922
pISSN - 2011-2084
DOI - 10.21500/20112084.740
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , psychology , appetite , anorexia , functional magnetic resonance imaging , developmental psychology , pathological , clinical psychology , eating disorders , neuroscience , medicine , endocrinology
In Anorexia Nervosa the observable phenomenon is the suppression of appetite. Little is known about the biological and psychological (top-down) bases that maintain this pathological state. However, Anorexia Nervosa is a biological, psychological and social model where the main behavioral characteristic is the inhibition of eating behavior; not by bottom-up but top-down regulation. Objective: To explore the areas of the brain associated with food appetency through functional magnetic resonance in women with anorexia nervosa. Methods: The subjects include 5 female with Restrictive type of Anorexia Nervosa and five controls female with similar in age and low weigh. The subjects were within the MRI scanner and while took fMRI they saw food images that would generate appetite. The subjects were in fasting state and mentally prepare by instruction “imagine you are eating the food presented in the following images”. Results: Compared differences in the activation between subjects four regions were found significant: the anterior cingulate, left front medial region and the left and right midbrain. Conclusions: The patients with Anorexia Nervosa present different activated cerebral areas to those of the controls during the visual exposition to food in hungry state and with evoke cognitions associated with eat food; those regions may be implicated in reward and self-control.