Psychobiology of anorexia nervosa

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 843-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlev W. Ploog ◽  
Karl M. Pirke
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Hunger Drive

SynopsisThe psychobiology of anorexia nervosa is described and explained under four headings; (1) the psychopathology as related to the motivation for fasting; (2) metabolic and somatic consequences of starvation, including brain morphology; (3) endocrine abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axis; and (4) the hunger drive and its possible perversions in terms of aspects of neuroethology and the reward system in the brain.

Morphological Changes in the Brain of Acutely Ill and Weight-Recovered Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Seitz ◽  
Katharina Bühren ◽  
Georg G. von Polier ◽  
Nicole Heussen ◽  
Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Clinical Prognosis ◽  
Qualitative Review ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Brain

Objective: Acute anorexia nervosa (AN) leads to reduced gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volume in the brain, which however improves again upon restoration of weight. Yet little is known about the extent and clinical correlates of these brain changes, nor do we know much about the time-course and completeness of their recovery. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis and a qualitative review of all magnetic resonance imaging studies involving volume analyses of the brain in both acute and recovered AN. Results: We identified structural neuroimaging studies with a total of 214 acute AN patients and 177 weight-recovered AN patients. In acute AN, GM was reduced by 5.6% and WM by 3.8% compared to healthy controls (HC). Short-term weight recovery 2–5 months after admission resulted in restitution of about half of the GM aberrations and almost full WM recovery. After 2–8 years of remission GM and WM were nearly normalized, and differences to HC (GM: –1.0%, WM: –0.7%) were no longer significant, although small residual changes could not be ruled out. In the qualitative review some studies found GM volume loss to be associated with cognitive deficits and clinical prognosis. Conclusions: GM and WM were strongly reduced in acute AN. The completeness of brain volume rehabilitation remained equivocal.

Starving the brain: Structural abnormalities and cognitive impairment in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra K. Katzman ◽  
Bruce Christensen ◽  
Arlene R. Young ◽  
Robert B. Zipursky
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Structural Abnormalities ◽  
The Brain

Art and the Brain’s Reward System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Hogh-Olesen
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Brain Scans ◽  
System P ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Reward Circuit

Chapter 7 takes the investigation of the aesthetic impulse into the human brain to understand, first, why only we—and not our closest relatives among the primates—express ourselves aesthetically; and second, how the brain reacts when presented with aesthetic material. Brain scans are less useful when you are interested in the Why of aesthetic behavior rather than the How. Nevertheless, some brain studies have been ground-breaking, and neuroaesthetics offers a pivotal argument for the key function of the aesthetic impulse in human lives; it shows us that the brain’s reward circuit is activated when we are presented with aesthetic objects and stimuli. For why reward a perception or an activity that is evolutionarily useless and worthless in relation to human existence?

scholarly journals Learning of food preferences: mechanisms and implications for obesity & metabolic diseases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Rudolf Berthoud ◽  
Christopher D. Morrison ◽  
Karen Ackroff ◽  
Anthony Sclafani
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Nutrient Sensing ◽  
Vagal Afferents ◽  
Dietary Knowledge ◽  
Ongoing Work ◽  
Brain Reward ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Vagal Function

AbstractOmnivores, including rodents and humans, compose their diets from a wide variety of potential foods. Beyond the guidance of a few basic orosensory biases such as attraction to sweet and avoidance of bitter, they have limited innate dietary knowledge and must learn to prefer foods based on their flavors and postoral effects. This review focuses on postoral nutrient sensing and signaling as an essential part of the reward system that shapes preferences for the associated flavors of foods. We discuss the extensive array of sensors in the gastrointestinal system and the vagal pathways conveying information about ingested nutrients to the brain. Earlier studies of vagal contributions were limited by nonselective methods that could not easily distinguish the contributions of subsets of vagal afferents. Recent advances in technique have generated substantial new details on sugar- and fat-responsive signaling pathways. We explain methods for conditioning flavor preferences and their use in evaluating gut–brain communication. The SGLT1 intestinal sugar sensor is important in sugar conditioning; the critical sensors for fat are less certain, though GPR40 and 120 fatty acid sensors have been implicated. Ongoing work points to particular vagal pathways to brain reward areas. An implication for obesity treatment is that bariatric surgery may alter vagal function.

Abnormal Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Function in Anorexia Nervosa

1986 ◽  
Vol 314 (21) ◽  
pp. 1335-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip W. Gold ◽  
Harry Gwirtsman ◽  
Peter C. Avgerinos ◽  
Lynnette K. Nieman ◽  
William T. Gallucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Adrenal Function ◽  
Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal

scholarly journals The Gut Microbiome Derived From Anorexia Nervosa Patients Impairs Weight Gain and Behavioral Performance in Female Mice

Endocrinology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 160 (10) ◽  
pp. 2441-2452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomokazu Hata ◽  
Noriyuki Miyata ◽  
Shu Takakura ◽  
Kazufumi Yoshihara ◽  
Yasunari Asano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Body Weight Gain ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Compulsive Behavior ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Poor Weight Gain

Abstract Anorexia nervosa (AN) results in gut dysbiosis, but whether the dysbiosis contributes to AN-specific pathologies such as poor weight gain and neuropsychiatric abnormalities remains unclear. To address this, germ-free mice were reconstituted with the microbiota of four patients with restricting-type AN (gAN mice) and four healthy control individuals (gHC mice). The effects of gut microbes on weight gain and behavioral characteristics were examined. Fecal microbial profiles in recipient gnotobiotic mice were clustered with those of the human donors. Compared with gHC mice, gAN mice showed a decrease in body weight gain, concomitant with reduced food intake. Food efficiency ratio (body weight gain/food intake) was also significantly lower in gAN mice than in gHC mice, suggesting that decreased appetite as well as the capacity to convert ingested food to unit of body substance may contribute to poor weight gain. Both anxiety-related behavior measured by open-field tests and compulsive behavior measured by a marble-burying test were increased only in gAN mice but not in gHC mice. Serotonin levels in the brain stem of gAN mice were lower than those in the brain stem of gHC mice. Moreover, the genus Bacteroides showed the highest correlation with the number of buried marbles among all genera identified. Administration of Bacteroides vulgatus reversed compulsive behavior but failed to exert any substantial effect on body weight. Collectively, these results indicate that AN-specific dysbiosis may contribute to both poor weight gain and mental disorders in patients with AN.

scholarly journals Increased hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal drive is associated with decreased appetite and hypoactivation of food-motivation neurocircuitry in anorexia nervosa

2013 ◽  
Vol 169 (5) ◽  
pp. 639-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Lawson ◽  
Laura M Holsen ◽  
Rebecca DeSanti ◽  
McKale Santin ◽  
Erinne Meenaghan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Serum Cortisol ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Food Motivation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽  
Cortisol Levels ◽  
The Relationship

ObjectiveCorticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH)-mediated hypercortisolemia has been demonstrated in anorexia nervosa (AN), a psychiatric disorder characterized by food restriction despite low body weight. While CRH is anorexigenic, downstream cortisol stimulates hunger. Using a food-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm, we have demonstrated hypoactivation of brain regions involved in food motivation in women with AN, even after weight recovery. The relationship between hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation and appetite and the association with food-motivation neurocircuitry hypoactivation are unknown in AN. We investigated the relationship between HPA activity, appetite, and food-motivation neurocircuitry hypoactivation in AN.DesignCross-sectional study of 36 women (13 AN, ten weight-recovered AN (ANWR), and 13 healthy controls (HC)).MethodsPeripheral cortisol and ACTH levels were measured in a fasting state and 30, 60, and 120 min after a standardized mixed meal. The visual analog scale was used to assess homeostatic and hedonic appetite. fMRI was performed during visual processing of food and non-food stimuli to measure the brain activation pre- and post-meal.ResultsIn each group, serum cortisol levels decreased following the meal. Mean fasting, 120 min post-meal, and nadir cortisol levels were high in AN vs HC. Mean postprandial ACTH levels were high in ANWR compared with HC and AN subjects. Cortisol levels were associated with lower fasting homeostatic and hedonic appetite, independent of BMI and depressive symptoms. Cortisol levels were also associated with between-group variance in activation in the food-motivation brain regions (e.g. hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula).ConclusionsHPA activation may contribute to the maintenance of AN by the suppression of appetitive drive.

scholarly journals How Intelligence is Understood Today

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Rustam Khasanov
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Intellectual Abilities ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Adaptive Abilities

The article is devoted to understanding the ways of explaining intellectual abilities in the light of new developments in the field of artificial intelligence and discoveries related to the study of complex adaptive animal behavior based on the reward system. The paper reviews the latest advances in the development of biologically plausible learning algorithms, the purpose of which is to explain the large amount of accumulated data from the field of neuroscience. Within the framework of this approach, reinforcement learning algorithms are proposed as the basis for any kind of cognitive activity. Understanding intelligence as a set of flexible adaptive abilities to achieve a goal provides a new conceptual framework for explaining how the brain works at a functional level. The formation of forecasts for the future, the construction of time steps and the existence of an internal assessment system in such systems is psychologically and biologically plausible and can potentially become a new milestone in the study of intelligence.

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