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The effect of a single yoga class on interoceptive accuracy in patients affected by anorexia nervosa and in healthy controls: a pilot study

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate interoceptive accuracy (Iac) before and after a single yoga class in a population of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and in a population of healthy controls (HC).

Methods

Fifteen patients with AN and twenty HC were included in the study. All individuals participated in a single yoga class. Before (T0) and after (T1) the yoga class, they underwent the heartbeat detection task for the evaluation of Iac. At T0, all participants also underwent a psychological assessment, including evaluation of depression, anxiety, body awareness, alexithymia, self-objectification and eating disorders psychopathology.

Results

Patients with AN had lower Iac than HC at T0. A significant improvement of Iac at T1 was found in the HC group but not in the group of patients with AN.

Conclusion

We infer that our findings might be linked to the fact that patients with AN, differently from HC, did not properly attend to their bodies, despite the yoga class. This hypothesis is consistent with previous studies showing that patients with AN have decreased Iac during self-focused behavior because of body-related avoidance. Moreover, we surmise that HC might be keener to improve their perception of internal body signals even after a single yoga class because their emotional awareness system is not impaired. Patients with AN, on the contrary, may have an intrinsic impairment of their emotional awareness, making it harder for them to modulate their Iac.

Level of evidence

Level III, evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytical studies.

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Data availability

Anonymized data will be shared by request from any qualified investigator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Salute, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, A.O. San Paolo, via A. di Rudinì, 8, 20100, Milan, Italy

    Benedetta Demartini, Diana Goeta, Mattia Marchetti, Sara Bertelli & Orsola Gambini

  2. Unità Di Psichiatria II, Presidio San Paolo, ASST Santi Paolo E Carlo, Milan, Italy

    Benedetta Demartini, Diana Goeta & Orsola Gambini

  3. “Aldo Ravelli” Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Benedetta Demartini, Diana Goeta & Orsola Gambini

  4. Nutrimente Onlus, Milan, Italy

    Simona Anselmetti & Maddalena Ischia

  5. Integral Yoga International, Satchidananda Ashram (VA), Virginia, USA

    Alessandra Cocchi

Authors
  1. Benedetta Demartini
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  2. Diana Goeta
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  3. Mattia Marchetti
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Correspondence to Benedetta Demartini.

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The Ethics Committee of Sigmund Freud University reviewed and approved the study protocol.

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All patients and healthy controls gave their written informed consent for the study.

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Demartini, B., Goeta, D., Marchetti, M. et al. The effect of a single yoga class on interoceptive accuracy in patients affected by anorexia nervosa and in healthy controls: a pilot study. Eat Weight Disord 26, 1427–1435 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00950-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00950-3

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