Set shifting deficit in anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe mental illness characterized in part by rigid thinking and ritualized behaviors involving eating and weight. Cognitive rigidity may play a role in the perpetuation of symptoms, and may provide information as to important brain-based abnormalities. Neuropsychological studies of patients with AN have shown cognitive dysfunction, but few have focused on cognitive flexibility. This study assessed set shifting in patients with AN, as a measure of cognitive flexibility. In this study, 15 patients with AN were compared with 11 healthy controls using a neuropsychological battery including the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST). While patients with AN did not differ from controls on 5 measures of neuropsychological function, they made significantly more perseverative errors on the WCST, indicating a problem in set shifting. This finding suggests that patients with AN have a specific neurocognitive abnormality that may play a role in the development and persistence of this disorder.
Steinglass
Joanna E
JE
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, and The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA. js1124@columbia.edu
Walsh
B Timothy
BT
Stern
Yaakov
Y
D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index