title: Altered resting state functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex in drug naïve adolescents at the earliest stages of anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Previous Resting-State Functional Connectivity (RSFC) studies have shown several functional alterations in adults with or recovered from long Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The aim of this paper was to investigate whole brain RSFC in adolescents with AN in the earliest stages, less than 6 months, of the disorder. Sixteen drug-naïve outpatient female adolescents with AN-restrictive type (AN-r) (mean age: 15,8; SD 1,7) were compared to 16 age-matched healthy female (mean age: 16,3; SD 1,4). Relevant resting state networks (RSNs) were identified using independent component analysis (ICA) from functional magnetic resonance imaging data; a dual regression technique was used to detect between-group differences in the RSNs. Between-group differences of the functional connectivity maps were found in the executive control network (ECN). Particularly, decreased temporal correlation was observed in AN-r patients relative to healthy controls between the ECN functional connectivity maps and the anterior cingulate cortex (p < 0.05 corrected). Our results in AN adolescents may represent an early trait-related biomarker of the disease. Considering that the above mentioned network and its area are mainly involved in cognitive control and emotional processing, our findings could explain the impaired cognitive flexibility in relation to body image and appetite in AN patients.
authors.affiliation: 1] Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università "Campus Bio-Medico di Roma", Rome, Italy [2] Eating Disorders Centre "La Cura del Girasole" ONLUS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Santino
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaudio
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Neuroimaging Laboratory, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy [2] Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University of G. d'Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piervincenzi
authors.affiliation: Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università "Campus Bio-Medico di Roma", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beomonte Zobel
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Centre "La Cura del Girasole" ONLUS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Romana Montecchi
authors.affiliation: 1] Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy [2] Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Neuroimaging Laboratory, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.affiliation: Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università "Campus Bio-Medico di Roma", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo Cosimo
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Quattrocchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors