Mandy Skunde1, Stephan Walther1, Joe J Simon1, Mudan Wu1, Martin Bendszus1, Wolfgang Herzog1, Hans-Christoph Friederich1. 1. From the Departments of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics (Skunde, Walther, Simon, Wu, Herzog, Friederich) and General Adult Psychiatry (Walther), Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (Friederich, Simon); the Department of Psychology, College of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China (Wu); and the Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany (Bendszus).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Impaired inhibitory control is considered a behavioural phenotype in patients with bulimia nervosa. However, the underlying neural correlates of impaired general and food-specific behavioural inhibition are largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated brain activation during the performance of behavioural inhibition to general and food-related stimuli in adults with bulimia nervosa. METHODS: Women with bulimia and healthy control women underwent event-related fMRI while performing a general and a food-specific no-go task. RESULTS: We included 28 women with bulimia nervosa and 29 healthy control women in our study. On a neuronal level, we observed significant group differences in response to general no-go stimuli in women with bulimia nervosa with high symptom severity; compared with healthy controls, the patients showed reduced activation in the right sensorimotor area (postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus) and right dorsal striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen). LIMITATIONS: The present results are limited to adult women with bulimia nervosa. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether impaired behavioural inhibition in patients with this disorder are a cause or consequence of chronic illness. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that diminished frontostriatal brain activation in patients with bulimia nervosa contribute to the severity of binge eating symptoms. Gaining further insight into the neural mechanisms of behavioural inhibition problems in individuals with this disorder may inform brain-directed treatment approaches and the development of response inhibition training approaches to improve inhibitory control in patients with bulimia nervosa. The present study does not support greater behavioural and neural impairments to food-specific behavioural inhibition in these patients.
BACKGROUND: Impaired inhibitory control is considered a behavioural phenotype in patients with bulimia nervosa. However, the underlying neural correlates of impaired general and food-specific behavioural inhibition are largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated brain activation during the performance of behavioural inhibition to general and food-related stimuli in adults with bulimia nervosa. METHODS:Women with bulimia and healthy control women underwent event-related fMRI while performing a general and a food-specific no-go task. RESULTS: We included 28 women with bulimia nervosa and 29 healthy control women in our study. On a neuronal level, we observed significant group differences in response to general no-go stimuli in women with bulimia nervosa with high symptom severity; compared with healthy controls, the patients showed reduced activation in the right sensorimotor area (postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus) and right dorsal striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen). LIMITATIONS: The present results are limited to adult women with bulimia nervosa. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether impaired behavioural inhibition in patients with this disorder are a cause or consequence of chronic illness. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that diminished frontostriatal brain activation in patients with bulimia nervosa contribute to the severity of binge eating symptoms. Gaining further insight into the neural mechanisms of behavioural inhibition problems in individuals with this disorder may inform brain-directed treatment approaches and the development of response inhibition training approaches to improve inhibitory control in patients with bulimia nervosa. The present study does not support greater behavioural and neural impairments to food-specific behavioural inhibition in these patients.
Authors: Stewart H Mostofsky; Joanna G B Schafer; Michael T Abrams; Melissa C Goldberg; Abigail A Flower; Avery Boyce; Susan M Courtney; Vince D Calhoun; Michael A Kraut; Martha B Denckla; James J Pekar Journal: Brain Res Cogn Brain Res Date: 2003-07
Authors: Christopher G Fairburn; W Stewart Agras; B Timothy Walsh; G Terence Wilson; Eric Stice Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2004-12 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: Marta Czapla; Joe J Simon; Hans-Christoph Friederich; Sabine C Herpertz; Peter Zimmermann; Sabine Loeber Journal: Eur Addict Res Date: 2014-11-22 Impact factor: 3.015
Authors: U W Preuss; D Rujescu; I Giegling; S Watzke; G Koller; T Zetzsche; E M Meisenzahl; M Soyka; H J Möller Journal: Nervenarzt Date: 2008-03 Impact factor: 1.214
Authors: Rachel Marsh; Joanna E Steinglass; Andrew J Gerber; Kara Graziano O'Leary; Zhishun Wang; David Murphy; B Timothy Walsh; Bradley S Peterson Journal: Arch Gen Psychiatry Date: 2009-01
Authors: Laura A Berner; Samantha R Winter; Hasan Ayaz; Patricia A Shewokis; Meltem Izzetoglu; Rachel Marsh; Jennifer A Nasser; Alyssa J Matteucci; Michael R Lowe Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2022-02-25 Impact factor: 10.592
Authors: Stephanie M Manasse; Elizabeth W Lampe; Lindsay Gillikin; Adam Payne-Reichert; Fengqing Zhang; Adrienne S Juarascio; Evan M Forman Journal: Int J Eat Disord Date: 2020-03-27 Impact factor: 4.861