title: n-back task performance and corresponding brain-activation patterns in women with restrictive and bulimic eating-disorder variants: preliminary findings.
abstract: Eating disorder (ED) variants characterized by "binge-eating/purging" symptoms differ from "restricting-only" variants along diverse clinical dimensions, but few studies have compared people with these different eating-disorder phenotypes on measures of neurocognitive function and brain activation. We tested the performances of 19 women with "restricting-only" eating syndromes and 27 with "binge-eating/purging" variants on a modified n-back task, and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine task-induced brain activations in frontal regions of interest. When compared with "binge-eating/purging" participants, "restricting-only" participants showed superior performance. Furthermore, in an intermediate-demand condition, "binge-eating/purging" participants showed significantly less event-related activation than did "restricting-only" participants in a right posterior prefrontal region spanning Brodmann areas 6-8-a region that has been linked to planning of motor responses, working memory for sequential information, and management of uncertainty. Our findings suggest that working memory is poorer in eating-disordered individuals with binge-eating/purging behaviors than in those who solely restrict food intake, and that observed performance differences coincide with interpretable group-based activation differences in a frontal region thought to subserve planning and decision making.
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: mimi.israel@douglas.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Israel
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Department of Psychology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Montreal Neurological Institute, Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pruessner
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thaler
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spilka
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Efanov
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berlim
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Nida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beaudry
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Frederique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Van den Eynde
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Claire-Dominique
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Program, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Psychiatry Department, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Research Centre, Douglas University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steiger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002032:Bulimia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anorexia; Binge eating; Bulimia; Eating disorders; Executive function; Functional neuroimaging