Eileen Luders

May 15, 2024 | nature.com | Jamie Feusner |Eileen Luders |Florian Kurth |Alicja Nowacka |Ronald Ly

Anorexia nervosa is an often-severe psychiatric illness characterized by significantly low body weight, fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image. Multiple neuroimaging studies have shown abnormalities in cortical morphology, mostly associated with the starvation state. Investigations of white matter, while more limited in number, have suggested global and regional volume reductions, as well as abnormal diffusivity in multiple regions including the corpus callosum. Yet, no study has specifically examined thickness of the corpus callosum, a large white matter tract instrumental in the inter-hemispheric integration of sensory, motor, and cognitive information. We analyzed MRI data from 48 adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa and 50 healthy controls, all girls/women, to compare corpus callosum thickness and examined relationships with body mass index (BMI), illness duration, and eating disorder symptoms (controlling for BMI). There were no significant group differences in corpus callosum thickness. In the anorexia nervosa group, severity of body shape concerns was significantly, positively correlated with callosal thickness in the rostrum, genu, rostral body, isthmus, and splenium. In addition, there were significant positive correlations between eating disorder-related obsessions and compulsions and thickness of the anterior midbody, rostral body, and splenium. There were no significant associations between callosal thickness and BMI or illness duration. In sum, those with AN with worse concerns about bodily appearance and worse eating disorder-related obsessive thought patterns and compulsive behaviours have regionally thicker corpus callosum, independent of current weight status. These findings provide important neurobiological links to key, specific eating disorder behavioural phenotypes.

Apr 20, 2024 | medrxiv.org | Eileen Luders |Inger Sundström Poromaa |Claudia Barth |Christian Gaser

The authors have declared no competing interest. CB received funding from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (2023037, 2022103). CG received support from Carl Zeiss Stiftung as a part of the IMPULS project (IMPULS P2019-01-006), the Federal Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF) under the frame of ERA PerMed (Pattern-Cog ERAPERMED2021-127) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (SmartAge 859890 H2020-MSCA-ITN2019).