title: Assessment of executive functions in obese individuals with binge eating disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess executive functions of obese individuals with binge eating disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight obese individuals with binge eating disorder were compared to thirty-eight obese controls without binge eating disorder in terms of their executive functions. All individuals were assessed using the following instruments: Digit Span, Trail Making Tests A and B, Stroop Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. In addition, four subtests from the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome Battery were also used, namely the Zoo Map Test, the Modified Six Elements Test, the Action Program Test and the Rule Shift Cards Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When compared to obese controls, obese individuals with binge eating disorder presented significant impairment in the following tests: Digit Span backward, Zoo Map Test, Modified Six Elements Test, and Action Program Test. Subjects with binge eating disorder also showed significant more set shifting and perseverative errors in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. In other measures such as the Digit Span Forward, the Trail Making Test, the Stroop Test and the Rule Shift Cards Test, obese subjects with binge eating disorder did not differ significantly from obese subjects without binge eating disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that, in the present sample, obese individuals with binge eating disorder presented executive deficits, especially impairments relating to problem-solving, cognitive flexibility and working memory.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. mduchesne@rionet.com.br
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duchesne
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.forename: José Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Appolinário
authors.forename: Silvia Regina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: de Freitas
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Conceição
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Walmir
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Coutinho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult