Neuropsychological investigation of decision-making in anorexia nervosa

Author: Cavedini, P.; Bassi, T.; Ubbiali, A.; Casolari, A.; Giordani, S.; Zorzi, C.; Bellodi, L.

Description: Anorexia nervosa (AN) could be considered a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which an impairment of the cognitive domain related to decision-making was found. We explored this function in AN patients, as well as possible differences between restricting type and binge/purge type, with the aim of examining the hypothesis that AN is part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Decision-making was assessed in 59 inpatients with AN and 82 control subjects using the Gambling task, which simulates real-life decision-making by assessing the ability to balance immediate rewards against long-term negative consequences. We confirmed the supposed deficit of decision-making in AN. However, restricting and binge eating/purge subtypes showed different patterns of decision-making impairment. Poor performance on the Gambling task is not a mere consequence of starvation and does not appear to be related to illness severity. The decision-making deficiency that some AN patients show is linked to those individual features that contribute to the phenomenological expression of the disorder.

Subject headings: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Anorexia Nervosa/diagnosis/psychology; Body Mass Index; Bulimia/epidemiology/psychology; Cognition Disorders/diagnosis/etiology; Decision Making; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Gambling/psychology; Humans; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Severity of Illness Index

Publication year: 2004

Journal or book title: Psychiatry Research

Volume: 127

Issue: 3

Pages: 259-266

Find the full text : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178104000988

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Type: Journal Article

Serial number: 91