Time Course of Electrocortical Processing of Food Stimuli in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa.

OBJECTIVE

Anorexia nervosa (AN) typically manifests during adolescence and is linked to significant psychological and physical sequelae. A better understanding of the underlying maintenance mechanisms of adolescent AN is therefore crucial. Cognitive behavioral theories emphasize the influence of cognitive biases in the processing of disorder-relevant stimuli.

METHOD: The current study investigated attentional bias to high- and low-calorie food in female adolescents with AN (n = 31) and without AN (n = 35). An event-related potentials study utilizing prolonged stimulus presentation in an attention task was conducted.

RESULTS

Against our hypotheses, the results suggest an early avoidance of (i.e., reduced early posterior negativity) and an increased motivated attention (i.e., enhanced P300) towards high-calorie food in females with AN relative to controls.

DISCUSSION: The automated early avoidance indicates a decline in the positive incentive value of high-calorie food, which signals a loss of the appetitive character of these foods. The increased top-down attention towards food may be due to an increased negative emotional salience activating aversive motivational systems.