title: Brain volume reduction predicts weight development in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with marked brain volume loss potentially leading to neuropsychological deficits. However, the mechanisms leading to this brain volume loss and its influencing factors are poorly understood and the clinical relevance of these brain alterations for the outcome of these AN-patients is yet unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brain volumes of 56 female adolescent AN inpatients and 50 healthy controls (HCs) were measured using MRI scans. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine the impact of body weight at admission, prior weight loss, age of onset and illness duration on volume loss at admission and to analyse the association of brain volume reduction with body weight at a 1-year follow-up (N = 25).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cortical and subcortical grey matter (GM) and cortical white matter (WM) but not cerebellar GM or WM were associated with low weight at admission. Amount of weight loss, age of onset and illness duration did not independently correlate with any volume changes. Prediction of age-adjusted standardized body mass index (BMI-SDS) at 1-year follow-up could be significantly improved from 34% of variance explained by age and BMI-SDS at admission to 47.5-53% after adding cortical WM, cerebellar GM or WM at time of admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whereas cortical GM changes appear to be an unspecific reflection of current body weight ("state marker"), cortical WM and cerebellar volume losses seem to indicate a longer-term risk (trait or "scar" of the illness), which appear to be important for the prediction of weight rehabilitation and long-term outcome.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Oxfoordlaan 55, Postbox 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: jseitz@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seitz
authors.affiliation: Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory (CANLAB), Otto-von-Guericke-University, ZENIT, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: martin.walter@med.ovgu.de.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: vmainz@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mainz
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: bherpertz@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herpertz-Dahlmann
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: kkonrad@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: gvonpolier@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: von Polier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011379:Prognosis; D015431:Weight Loss; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Brain imaging; Brain volumes; Eating disorder; Freesurfer; Prediction