title: Effects of exposure to food images on physiological reactivity and emotional responses in women with bulimia nervosa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two exposure procedures on habituation of emotional responses to food stimuli: (a) exposure to external cues (food images) without eating forbidden food (CE) and (b) exposure to external cues eating forbidden food (with purge prevention). The influence of craving-trait and mood state on the habituation process is also studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Emotional modulation of the defense startle reflex was assessed in 26 women at risk of bulimia nervosa. After four exposure trials, changes in the following variables were measured: (a) food craving-state; (b) physiological measures: hearth rate (HR) and skin conductance response (SCR); (c) motivational patterns towards food (defense startle response); and (d) valence, arousal and dominance of the emotional response to food images.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After treatment, subjects tended to show non-significant lower SCR and heart orientation responses (vs. defense responses); defense startle response was also significantly lower.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The exposure procedure, the induced emotional state and the number of exposure trials are analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Pontifi cia de Salamanca, 37002 Salamanca, Spain. jryelabe@upsa.es
authors.forename: José Ramon
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Yela Bernabé
authors.forename: Maria Ángeles
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Gómez Martínez
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortés Rodríguez
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salgado Ruiz
mesh_terms: D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy; D055815:Young Adult