title: Functional connectivity correlates of response inhibition impairment in anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by high levels of cognitive control and behavioral perseveration. The present study aims at exploring inhibitory control abilities and their functional connectivity correlates in patients with AN. Inhibitory control - an executive function that allows the realization of adaptive behavior according to environmental contingencies - has been assessed by means of the Stop-Signal paradigm. The study involved 155 patients with lifetime AN and 102 healthy women. A subsample underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and was genotyped for COMT and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms. AN patients showed an impaired response inhibition and a disruption of the functional connectivity of the ventral attention circuit, a neural network implicated in behavioral response when a stimulus occurs unexpected. The 5-HTTLPR genotype appears to significantly interact with the functional connectivity of ventral attention network in explaining task performance in both patients and controls, suggesting a role of the serotoninergic system in mechanisms of response selection. The disruption of the ventral attention network in patients with AN suggests lower efficiency of bottom-up signal filtering, which might be involved in difficulties to adapt behavioral responses to environmental needs. Our findings deserve further research to confirm their scientific and therapeutic implications.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Collantoni
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michelon
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tenconi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Degortes
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Titton
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Italy; IRCCS Istituto San Camillo, Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Renzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manara
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Woman and Child Health, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Woman and Child Health, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinato
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Woman and Child Health, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forzan
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Woman and Child Health, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cassina
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santonastaso
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy. Electronic address: angela.favaro@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Favaro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C588010:COMT protein, human; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase
keywords: 5-HTTLPR; Anorexia nervosa; Response inhibition; Stop-signal task