Weight Status, Leptin, and Cognitive Function in Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a severe and often enduring disorder characterized by restriction of food intake, low body weight, fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Investigations on cognition performance in AN patients have yielded conflicting results. Using an established and sensitive computerized cognitive test battery, we aimed to assess core aspects of cognitive function, including attention span, information processing, reasoning, working and episodic memory, in AN patients and controls. Patients were recruited from the Danish Prospective Longitudinal all-comer inclusion study in Eating Disorders (PROLED). Included were 26 individuals with AN and 36 healthy volunteers (HV). All were tested with CogTrack (an online cognitive assessment system) at baseline, and AN patients were tested again at a follow-up time point after weight increase (n = 13). At baseline, AN patients showed faster reaction times in the attention tasks, as well as increased accuracy in grammatical reasoning compared to HV. There were no differences in cognitive function between AN patients and HV in the other cognitive domains measured (sustained attention, working and episodic memory, speed of retrieval, and speed of grammatical reasoning). No differences were visible in the AN sample between baseline and follow-up. Performance did not correlate with any clinical variables in the AN sample. These findings supplement results from other studies suggesting increased concentration and reasoning accuracy in patients suffering from AN, who showed increased performance in cognitive tasks despite their illness.

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Weight Status Influences Carotid Intima-Media Thickness to Executive Function Among Older Adults

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1183 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 367-368

Author(s):

Desiree Bygrave ◽

Regina Wright

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Weight Status ◽

Carotid Atherosclerosis ◽

Intima Media Thickness ◽

Carotid Intima Media Thickness ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Media Thickness

Abstract Carotid atherosclerosis has emerged as an early predictor of reduced cognitive function. Underlying this association are risk factors, such as overweight and obesity, that promote carotid atherosclerosis and poor cognitive outcomes. Given the prevalence of overweight and obesity among older adults, there is a critical need to better understand how atherosclerosis influences cognitive function in the context of elevated weight. To address this gap, the current study examined relations between carotid atherosclerosis (carotid intima-media thickness [IMT]), and attention (Trailmaking Test) and executive function (Verbal Fluency Test) performance, and whether they varied as a function of weight status (body mass index [BMI] classification). Data were analyzed from 162 older adults (mean age = 68.43y, 34% male, 41% African American), free of major disease. Mutliple regression and analysis of variance analyses, adjusted for age, sex, education and mean arterial pressure, showed a statistically significant IMT x BMI interaction for Verbal Fluency performance (p=.04) and a trending IMT x BMI interaction for Trailmaking A performance (p=.05). Simple effects analysis of IMT and Verbal Fluency performance showed that this association was most pronounced among those who are obese. Findings suggest atherosclerosis may influence executive function in the context of obesity among older adults. As the development of carotid atherosclerosis is strongly related to aging, our findings suggest that maintaining a healthy weight may reduce its impact on executive function in older adulthood.

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Exercise and dietary program-induced weight reduction is associated with cognitive function among obese adolescents: a longitudinal study

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.3286 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. e3286 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Chun Xie ◽

Xiaochun Wang ◽

Chenglin Zhou ◽

Chang Xu ◽

Yu-Kai Chang

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Weight Status ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Control Group ◽

Obese Adolescents ◽

School Activities ◽

Combined Exercise ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

The Relationship

Objective The present study was to determine the effect of a combined exercise and dietary program on cognitive function as well as the relationship between the program-induced weight change and cognitive function alterations. Design The study applies a quasi-experimental design. Methods Fifty-eight adolescents with obese status (body mass index, BMI >28 kg/m2) were assigned to either an experiment (n = 30) or control group (n = 28). Participants in the experiment group received a scheduled program with a specific exercise protocol (two sessions per day, six days per week) and diet plan for four consecutive weeks; the control group was instructed to maintain their normal school activities. The primary outcome measures were anthropometric data and flanker task performance. Results The combined program led to reduced BMI with maintenance of the incongruent accuracy in the experiment group, but the incongruent accuracy decreased in the control group after the four-week period. Additionally, the change in weight status between post- and pre-test measurements was inversely correlated with the change in incongruent accuracy. Conclusion The combined exercise and dietary program resulted in decreased weight and enhanced executive function in the obese adolescents, and the weight alteration may be considered the mediator between the intervention and executive function.

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Insulin, glucose, and pancreatic polypeptide responses to a test meal in restricting type anorexia nervosa before and after weight restoration

AJP Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1152/ajpendo.00347.2006 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 292 (5) ◽

pp. E1441-E1446 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Kimberly P. Kinzig ◽

Janelle W. Coughlin ◽

Graham W. Redgrave ◽

Timothy H. Moran ◽

Angela S. Guarda

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Pancreatic Polypeptide ◽

Test Meal ◽

Weight Status ◽

Endocrine Function ◽

Response Patterns ◽

Short Term ◽

Before And After ◽

Weight Restoration ◽

Relapse Rates

Prolonged malnutrition in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) has been associated with alterations in endocrine function that may play a sustaining role in the disorder. We hypothesized that abnormalities in endocrine responses to ingestion of a meal in AN are reversible and depend on weight restoration. We measured meal-induced endocrine responses in AN subjects at three time points during hospitalization: before refeeding ( n = 13, mean BMI 16.7 kg/m2), after 2 wk of refeeding (mean BMI 18.0 kg/m2), and in the weight-restored state (mean BMI 20.3 kg/m2). Control subjects ( n = 13, BMI 19–24.9 kg/m2) were tested once. Tests were 2.5-h sessions in which blood was drawn every 15 min before, during, and after a ∼650-kcal test breakfast. Relative to controls, peak levels of glucose were depressed and peak levels of insulin in response to ingestion of the test meal were delayed, with response patterns in the third trial most similar to controls. Pancreatic polypeptide (PP) levels were increased in AN relative to controls regardless of weight status. The delay in insulin release and elevated PP levels did not correct with short-term refeeding and may contribute to the high relapse rates and maintenance of AN.

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A Short Anorexic Behaviour Scale

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.122.1.83 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 122 (566) ◽

pp. 83-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

P. D. Slade

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Body Size ◽

Weight Status ◽

Objective Assessment ◽

Short Term ◽

Treatment Regimes ◽

Assessment Techniques ◽

Valid Assessment ◽

Assessment Procedures ◽

Psychosexual Adjustment

The successful investigation and development of effective treatment programmes for any disorder is closely dependent on the development of reliable and valid assessment procedures. Anorexia nervosa would seem to be no exception in this respect. At present, while the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa seems fairly easy to establish, the assessment of severity, response to various treatment regimes, and prognosis pose rather more of a problem. Reliance on criteria such as weight status and gain, return of menstruation, psychosexual adjustment, etc., is inadequate, especially in the assessment of short-term effects of various therapeutic conditions. Recently Slade and Russell (1972) have described an objective technique for measuring ‘perception of body size‘, an area in which they found anorexia nervosa patients to be defective. Clearly, however, other reliable, objective assessment techniques are needed as well.

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Hippocampal volume and cognitive function in anorexia nervosa

Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging ◽

10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.10.006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 146 (2) ◽

pp. 117-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

Frances Connan ◽

Fay Murphy ◽

Steve E.J. Connor ◽

Phil Rich ◽

Tara Murphy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Hippocampal Volume

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Knowledge and Practice of Eating Disorders among a Group of Adolescent Dental Patients

Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry ◽

10.17796/jcpd.38.1.p764642162107355 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 39-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

TM Hicks ◽

JY Lee ◽

T Nguyen ◽

M La Via ◽

MW Roberts

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Eating Disorders ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Weight Status ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Research Subjects ◽

Dental Patients ◽

Question Survey

Objectives: The objectives are to ascertain how much is known about the eating disorders of bulimia and anorexia nervosa in a group of female adolescents, to determine if they had practiced behaviors consistent with these eating disorders, and to determine if there was a disconnect with actual and perceived healthy weight status. Study Design: 126 research subjects completed a survey instrument. Embedded in the eighteen question survey were the five “SCOFF” questions, to determine if an eating disorder may exist. The BMI percentile was obtained for all participants. Results: 18.3% of the research sample may have an eating disorder as predicted by the SCOFF questions. Of those with a suspected eating disorder, only 38% could correctly identify the best description of bulimia nervosa and 50% for anorexia nervosa. The BMI percentiles were higher in the group suspected of having an eating disorder. Conclusions: Young adolescent females are at risk for eating disorders. Educational interventions should be directed at this young age group. If the at-risk individuals knew more about the consequences of these disorders, they may be less likely to practice the behaviors.

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