title: Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: cognitive performance after weight recovery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although there is no definitive consensus on the impairment of neuropsychological functions, most studies of adults with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) find impaired functioning in cognitive domains such as visual-spatial abilities. The objective of this study is to assess the cognitive functions in adolescents with AN before and after weight recovery and to explore the relationship between cognitive performance and menstruation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five female adolescents with AN were assessed by a neuropsychological battery while underweight and then following six months of treatment and weight recovery. Twenty-six healthy female subjects of a similar age were also evaluated at both time points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Underweight patients with AN showed worse cognitive performance than control subjects in immediate recall, organization and time taken to copy the Rey's Complex Figure Test (RCFT). After weight recovery, AN patients presented significant improvements in all tests, and differences between patients and controls disappeared. Patients with AN and persistence of amenorrhea at follow-up (n=8) performed worse on Block Design, delayed recall of Visual Reproduction and Stroop Test than patients with resumed menstruation (n=14) and the control group, though the two AN groups were similar in body mass index, age and psychopathological scale scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weight recovery improves cognitive functioning in adolescents with AN. The normalization of neuropsychological performance is better in patients who have recovered at least one menstrual cycle. The normalization of hormonal function seems to be essential for the normalization of cognitive performance, even in adolescents with a very short recovery time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici M-Campus UAB, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: estefanialozanos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Estefanía
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lozano-Serra
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, SGR-1119, Neurosciencies Institute, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, CIBERSAM, Villarroel 170, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Rosselló 149-153, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrés-Perpiña
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, SGR-1119, Neurosciencies Institute, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, CIBERSAM, Villarroel 170, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, Health Sciences Division, University of Barcelona, Casanova 143, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Rosselló 149-153, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lázaro-García
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, SGR-1119, Neurosciencies Institute, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, CIBERSAM, Villarroel 170, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, Health Sciences Division, University of Barcelona, Casanova 143, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Rosselló 149-153, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Fornieles
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008598:Menstruation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013030:Spain; D015430:Weight Gain
keywords: Adolescents; Amenorrhea; Anorexia Nervosa; Neuropsychology; Starvation; Weight gain