Editorial: Connecting the Nodes of Altered Brain Network Organization in Eating Disorders

• Published in: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 156 - 158
• Main Authors: Ehrlich, Stefan, King, Joseph A, Boehm, Ilka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier BV 01-02-2019
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anorexia Nervosa; Attention; Brain; Brain architecture; Bulimia Nervosa; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Humans
• ISSN: 0890-8567; 1527-5418
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.11.005

Two prevalent eating disorders (ED) in adolescence are anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). AN is characterized primarily by an extensive restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight. In contrast, the cardinal symptom of BN is uncontrolled eating of an abnormally large amount of food, followed by compensatory behavior to avoid weight gain (eg, self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse). Despite these differences and the fact that individuals with BN are usually of normal weight, patients with both disorders have an abnormal preoccupation with body weight and shape,
often in the form of distressing ruminations.
Left untreated, body image distortion and associated extreme eating/purging habits often have severe and life-long physical, social and psychological consequences. A better understanding of the neurobiological substrates of clinical symptoms may help to improve therapeutic interventions and outcome.
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