title: Functional magnetic resonance studies in eating behavior disorders.
abstract: Eating behavior disorders (EBD) constitute a serious somatic and psychiatric condition that occurs mainly in adolescent and young adult women and is characterized by a persistent desire to be extremely thin, pathologic fear of gaining weight and distortion of body perception. From a neurobiological vantage point, it has been suggested that alterations in some neural systems of these patients may exist, either as a cause or effect of their condition. In recent years various research studies have been conducted with the aim of identifying underlying brain disorders in EBD. The purpose of this article was to review the main findings obtained in neuroimaging studies, including PET, SPECT, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), focusing mainly on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Some alterations and changes in metabolism and blood perfusion that accompany the neuroimaging findings will be reviewed, as well as studies designed to determine whether these alterations persist after recovery from the disease.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Spain.
authors.forename: L de Anta
authors.initials: Lde A
authors.lastname: Tejado
authors.forename: R Molina
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Trebbau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diaz-Marsá
authors.forename: J L Carrasco
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Perera
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging