An examination of decision making in bulimia nervosa.

BACKGROUND

Patients with eating disorders favor immediate gratification and ignore long-term negative consequences. This study investigated decision making in bulimia nervosa using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and skin conductance responses (SCR).

METHOD: A total of 26 bulimia nervosa patients and 51 healthy controls took part in this study; 29 patients with anorexia nervosa were included for comparison.

RESULTS

Bulimia nervosa patients performed poorly in the IGT, but showed no decrease in anticipatory SCR, whereas a markedly diminished anticipatory SCR was seen in the anorexia nervosa group.

CONCLUSIONS

This finding does not support the somatic marker hypothesis. Impaired decision making was associated with obsessive-compulsive traits.