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).


METHODS
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.
Liao
Pei-Chi
PC
Section of Eating Disorders, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK.
Uher
Rudolf
R
Lawrence
Natalia
N
Treasure
Janet
J
Schmidt
Ulrike
U
Campbell
Iain C
IC
Collier
David A
DA
Tchanturia
Kate
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult