Cited by 144Eating Disorders and BehaviorsNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorRegulation of Appetite and Obesity

Advances from neuroimaging studies in eating disorders

Open access
Frank, Guido K. W.·2015·CNS Spectrums

Abstract

Over the past decade, brain imaging has helped to better define eating disorder–related brain circuitry. Brain research on gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes had been inconsistent, possibly due to the effects of acute starvation, exercise, medication, and comorbidity, but newer studies have controlled for such effects. Those studies suggest larger left medial orbitofrontal gyrus rectus volume in ill adult and adolescent anorexia nervosa after recovery from anorexia nervosa, and in adult bulimia nervosa. The orbitofrontal cortex is important in terminating food intake, and altered function could contribute to self-starvation. The right insula, which processes taste but also interoception, was enlarged in ill adult and adolescent anorexia nervosa, as well as adults recovered from the illness. The fixed perception of being fat in anorexia nervosa could be related to altered insula function. A few studies investigated WM integrity, with the most consistent finding of reduced fornix integrity in anorexia and bulimia nervosa—a limbic pathway that is important in emotion but also food intake regulation. Functional brain imaging using basic sweet taste stimuli in eating disorders during the ill state or after recovery implicated repeatedly reward pathways, including insula and striatum. Brain imaging that targeted dopamine-related brain activity using taste-reward conditioning tasks suggested that this circuitry is hypersensitive in anorexia nervosa, but hyporesponsive in bulimia nervosa and obesity. Those results are in line with basic research and suggest adaptive reward system changes in the human brain in response to extremes of food intake—changes that could interfere with normalization of eating behavior.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s1092852915000012

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  • Dysfunction of interoception is increasingly recognized as an important component of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, addictive disorders, and somatic symptom disorders.

    “Dysfunction of interoception is increasingly recognized as an important component of different mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, addictive disorders, and somatic symptom disorders.”

    From Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap. (2018) · cites this paper as [100]

    The Introduction’s “Brain volume” section links altered insula structure to impaired interoception in bulimia, supporting the eating-disorders portion of the claim. Our copy does not establish interoceptive dysfunction as an important component of anxiety, mood, addictive, or somatic symptom disorders, or the broader claim that this is increasingly recognized across those conditions. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Eating disorders show behavioral and neural abnormalities in interoceptive processing, particularly in the context of caloric anticipation.

    “Eating disorders show behavioral and neural abnormalities in interoceptive processing, particularly in the context of caloric anticipation (72,98–100), although it remains unclear whether this is due to altered afferent signaling, altered central sensory processing, abnormal temperament, and/or metacognition.”

    From Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap. (2018) · cites this paper as [100]

    The Brain volume and Networks sections link altered insula structure and network activity in anorexia nervosa to possible interoceptive abnormalities. The taste-reward processing section reports altered neural responses to food cues and milkshake anticipation, and discusses fear of caloric intake. It does not establish both behavioral and neural abnormalities in interoceptive processing specifically during caloric anticipation. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Atypical structure and function of the insula and ACC have been observed in eating disorders, ASD, OCD, anxiety disorders, depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance abuse/addiction disorders, and PTSD.

    “Atypical structure and function of the insula and ACC have been observed in those with eating disorders (Frank, 2015; Uher et al., 2004), ASD (Simms et al., 2009; Uddin and Menon, 2009), OCD (Menzies, Chamberlain, Laird et al., 2008), anxiety disorders (Paulus and Stein, 2006; Rosso et al., 2010; Holzschneider and Mulert, 2011), depression and bipolar disorder (Drevets et al., 2008; Vizueta et al.”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [2]American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5(TM)) 5th Arlington, Va. American Psychiatric Publishing 5 edition 5 27 2013 2013

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Authors
Frank, G. K. W.
Affiliations
Children's Hospital Colorado (US)
Corresponding author
Frank, Guido K. W.
Venue
CNS Spectrums
Published
2015-04-23
Volume
20
Issue
4
Pages
391-400
ISSN
  • 1092-8529 (ISSN-L)
  • 2165-6509
OpenAlex
W2052804935
Cited by
144
References
101
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 1
FWCI
2.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • CNS Spectrums (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH096777, R01MH103436)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
Keywords
eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, brain circuits, gray matter volume, white matter integrity, medial orbitofrontal cortex, insula, fornix, reward systems, dopamine, taste perception, obesity, eating disorder recovery
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Brain, Humans, Reward, Neurotransmitter Agents, Connectome

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