Neuropsychological functioning in children and adolescents with restrictive-type anorexia nervosa: an in-depth investigation with NEPSY-II.
Several studies have investigated the neuropsychological functioning of patients with anorexia nervosa restrictive type (AN-r), but results are conflicting. Here we compared the neuropsychological profile of 23 female children and adolescents with AN-r and of 46 typical controls (aged 9-16 years) using the second edition of the NEPSY (a Developmental Neuropsychology Assessment) neuropsychological battery. AN-r patients presented subtle cognitive flexibility impairments in audiomotor responses (p = .033). Conversely, superior performance in verbal fluency (p = .024) and memory (p = .034) was observed only in AN-r patients with an associated unipolar mood disorder. This profile of marginally impaired and enhanced performance was independent from illness duration and starvation degree, suggesting that it may preexist and represent a vulnerability factor for the disease onset.
Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.
Sara
S
Calderoni
Filippo
F
Muratori
Chiara
C
Leggero
Antonio
A
Narzisi
Fabio
F
Apicella
Umberto
U
Balottin
Tiziana
T
Carigi
Sandra
S
Maestro
Franco
F
Fabbro
Cosimo
C
Urgesi
D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000150:complications*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012938:Social Perception; D013028:Space Perception; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014706:Verbal Learning