title: Thinking about eating food activates visual cortex with reduced bilateral cerebellar activation in females with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Women with anorexia nervosa (AN) have aberrant cognitions about food and altered activity in prefrontal cortical and somatosensory regions to food images. However, differential effects on the brain when thinking about eating food between healthy women and those with AN is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examined neural activation when 42 women thought about eating the food shown in images: 18 with AN (11 RAN, 7 BPAN) and 24 age-matched controls (HC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Group contrasts between HC and AN revealed reduced activation in AN in the bilateral cerebellar vermis, and increased activation in the right visual cortex. Preliminary comparisons between AN subtypes and healthy controls suggest differences in cortical and limbic regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These preliminary data suggest that thinking about eating food shown in images increases visual and prefrontal cortical neural responses in females with AN, which may underlie cognitive biases towards food stimuli and ruminations about controlling food intake. Future studies are needed to explicitly test how thinking about eating activates restraint cognitions, specifically in those with restricting vs. binge-purging AN subtypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Samantha.brooks@neuro.uu.se
authors.forename: Samantha J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: O'Daly
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uher
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Friederich
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giampietro
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brammer
authors.forename: Steven C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Helgi B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Schiöth
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treasure
authors.forename: Iain C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D008875:Middle Aged; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors