Int J Eat Disord. 2025 Jul 18. doi: 10.1002/eat.24510. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Anorexia nervosa (AN) typically manifests during adolescence and is linked to significant psychological and physical sequelae. A better understanding of the underlying maintenance mechanisms of adolescent AN is therefore crucial. Cognitive behavioral theories emphasize the influence of cognitive biases in the processing of disorder-relevant stimuli.
METHOD: The current study investigated attentional bias to high- and low-calorie food in female adolescents with AN (n = 31) and without AN (n = 35). An event-related potentials study utilizing prolonged stimulus presentation in an attention task was conducted.
RESULTS: Against our hypotheses, the results suggest an early avoidance of (i.e., reduced early posterior negativity) and an increased motivated attention (i.e., enhanced P300) towards high-calorie food in females with AN relative to controls.
DISCUSSION: The automated early avoidance indicates a decline in the positive incentive value of high-calorie food, which signals a loss of the appetitive character of these foods. The increased top-down attention towards food may be due to an increased negative emotional salience activating aversive motivational systems.
PMID:40678842 | DOI:10.1002/eat.24510
