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Motivational processing of food cues in anorexia nervosa: a pilot study

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Abstract

Current literature suggests an increased attentional bias toward food stimuli in eating-disordered individuals compared to healthy controls. In line with these research efforts, the present study aims to investigate the processing of food stimuli (enriched by emotional stimuli) between patients diagnosed for anorexia nervosa (AN) and healthy controls by means of electroencephalography. Twenty-two female adolescents (eleven AN patients vs. eleven healthy controls) were investigated. Positive event-related potentials “P300” and “late positive potential” (LPP) reflecting attentional processing (caused by motivationally relevant stimuli) were investigated during passive viewing of the food cue picture stream. This method was used for the first time in a sample of individuals with AN. As a main result, AN patients exhibited a higher amount of attentional bias in P300 and LPP, while watching food stimuli. Moreover, AN patients rated food stimuli as less pleasant. For a conclusion, there is substantial evidence pointing to an abnormal attentional brain reactivity to food pictures in AN. Therefore, food stimuli seem to be more motivationally relevant for AN patients than for healthy controls. By broadening existing knowledge, these findings might bear some implications for the treatment for AN. However, further research is recommended in order to confirm the results coming from rather limited data.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff of the Department of Neuropsychology Graz for their helpful support concerning the analyses and interpretations of the EEG data. We would also like to acknowledge the staff and patients of the Psychosomatic Division of the University Children’s Hospital, and especially thank Katharina Burmucic for her assistance in the patients’ recruitment. The authors thank Sandra Shaheen for her excellent feedback and commentaries on this paper.

Conflict of interests

There are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Graz, Austria

    Anna Novosel, Nina Lackner, Human-Friedrich Unterrainer & Christa Neuper

  2. University Clinic for Psychiatry, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 31, 8036, Graz, Austria

    Nina Lackner

  3. Center for Integrative Addiction Research (Grüner Kreis Society), Vienna, Austria

    Human-Friedrich Unterrainer

  4. Institute of Pathophysiology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

    Sandra Johanna Wallner-Liebmann

  5. Psychosomatic and Psychotherapeutic Unit, Department for General Pediatrics, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

    Marguerite Dunitz-Scheer & Peter Jaron Zwi Scheer

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  1. Anna Novosel
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  2. Nina Lackner
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  3. Human-Friedrich Unterrainer
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  4. Marguerite Dunitz-Scheer
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  5. Peter Jaron Zwi Scheer
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  6. Sandra Johanna Wallner-Liebmann
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  7. Christa Neuper
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Correspondence to Nina Lackner.

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Novosel, A., Lackner, N., Unterrainer, HF. et al. Motivational processing of food cues in anorexia nervosa: a pilot study. Eat Weight Disord 19, 169–175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0114-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0114-7

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