Correlation of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Response to Visual Food Stimuli With Clinical Measures in Adolescents With Restrictive Eating Disorders

Abstract

Purpose: Previous reports have shown limbic dysregulation in patients with restrictive eating disorders (EDs). This study investigated functional responses in brain systems to visual food stimuli and their correlation with psychological and behavioral outcomes.

Methods: A total of 18 females, aged 13-18 years, who were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (n = 11) or atypical anorexia nervosa (n = 7), completed functional magnetic resonance imaging during a visual food paradigm. Stimuli included four food types and one nonfood. Anxiety and disordered eating cognitions were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26). Analyses were performed to obtain contrasts among different food categories and test their correlations with cognitive and behavioral scores.

Results: Contrasts of foods versus nonfood generally resulted in positive responses in occipital regions and negative responses in temporal and parietal gyri. Contrast of sweets versus nonfood, in particular, elicited additional activation in the hippocampus. Contrasting sweet to nonsweet food, the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were activated. Contrast of all foods versus nonfood had a positive correlation with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-state scores in the orbitofrontal cortex and ACC. Finally, the sweet versus nonsweet contrast correlated positively with EAT-26 in ACC and other frontal areas.

Conclusions: Visual food stimuli elicited brain responses in limbic centers, and sweet foods extended activation to other limbic domains. Sweet food contrast correlated to EAT-26 in regions comprising the default mode network tied to introspection. Thus, we conclude that visual food stimuli produce activation in limbic-regulating regions in patients with restrictive EDs that correlate with disordered-eating cognitions and behaviors.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Anxiety; Food stimuli; Limbic; Magnetic resonance imaging.