Binge eating may map onto widespread brain differences in bulimia nervosa
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that individuals with bulimia nervosa have structural differences in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, as well as social and sensory processing, and that more frequent binge eating is associated with more widespread differences in brain structure, according to research published today in JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered structural differences in the brains of individuals with bulimia nervosa, particularly in regions associated with reward, motivation, social, and sensory processing. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, analyzed MRI brain scans from 369 female participants with bulimia nervosa and 417 without an eating disorder, finding that those with bulimia nervosa had lower volume in the nucleus accumbens and lower surface area in the temporal cortex.
More frequent binge eating was associated with lower surface area in additional brain regions involved in cognitive control, reward value estimation, awareness of bodily signals, and processing and regulating emotions. The study's lead author, Laura A. Berner, Ph.D., emphasized the potential of these findings to identify better targets for prevention and treatment of bulimia nervosa.
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