Disruption of visuospatial and somatosensory functional connectivity in anorexia nervosa.
BACKGROUND
Although body image disturbance is considered one of the core characteristics of anorexia nervosa (AN), the exact nature of this complex feature is poorly understood. Task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging studies can only partially explore the multimodal complexity of body consciousness, which is a complex cognition underpinned by aspects of visual perception, proprioception, and touch. The aim of the present study was to explore the functional connectivity of networks involved in visuospatial and somatosensory processing in AN.


METHODS
Twenty-nine subjects with AN, 16 women who had recovered from it, and 26 healthy women underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan and neuropsychological assessment of their visuospatial abilities using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test.


RESULTS
Both AN groups showed areas of decreased connectivity in the ventral visual network, a network involved in the "what?" pathway of visual perception. Even more interestingly, the AN group, but not the recovered AN group, displayed increased coactivation in the left parietal cortex, encompassing the somatosensory cortex, in an area implicated in long-term multimodal spatial memory and representation, even in the absence of visual information. A neuropsychological assessment of visuospatial abilities revealed that aspects of detail processing and global integration (central coherence) showed correlations with connectivity of this brain area in the AN group.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings show that AN is associated with double disruption of brain connectivity, which shows a specific association with visuospatial difficulties and may explain the failure of the integration process between visual and somatosensory perceptual information that might sustain body image disturbance.
Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. angela.favaro@unipd.it
Angela
A
Favaro
Paolo
P
Santonastaso
Renzo
R
Manara
Romina
R
Bosello
Giulia
G
Bommarito
Elena
E
Tenconi
Francesco
F
Di Salle
D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001304:Auditory Diseases, Central; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*