Comprehensive neurocognitive assessment of patients with anorexia nervosa

AIM:To utilise a comprehensive cognitive battery to gain a better understanding of cognitive performance in anorexia nervosa(AN).METHODS:Twenty-six individuals with AN and 27 healthy control participants matched for age,gender and premorbid intelligence,participated in the study.A standard cognitive battery,the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery,was used to investigate performance on seven cognitive domains with the use of 10 different tasks:speed of processing[Brief Assessment Of Cognition In Schizophrenia:Symbol Coding,Category Fluency:Animal Naming(Fluency)and Trail Making Test:Part A],attention/vigilance[Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs(CPT-IP)],working memory[Wechsler Memory Scale(WMS?-Ⅲ):Spatial Span,and Letter-Number Span(LNS)],verbal learning[Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised],visual learning[Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised],reasoning and problem solving[Neuropsychological Assessment Battery:Mazes],and social cognition[Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test:Managing Emotions].Statistical analyses involved the use of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance.RESULTS:Analyses conducted on the cognitive domain scores revealed no overall significant difference between groups nor any interaction between group and domain score[F(1,45)=0.73,P=0.649].Analyses conducted on each of the specific tasks within the cognitive domains revealed significantly slower reaction times for false alarm responses on the CPT-IP task in AN[F(1,51)=12.80,P<0.01,Cohen’s d=0.982]and a trend towards poorer performance in AN on the backward component of the WMS?-ⅢSpatial Span task[F(1,51)=5.88,P=0.02,Cohen’s d=-0.665].The finding of slower reaction times of false alarm responses is,however,limited due to the small number of false alarm responses for either group.CONCLUSION:The findings are discussed in terms of poorer capacity to manipulate and process visuospatial material in AN.

Self-reported and behavioural impulsivity in anorexia nervosa

AIM To examine how self-reported and behavioural impulsivity are related in anorexia nervosa(AN).METHODS Twenty-four females with AN and 25 healthy controls(HC) participant in the study.Self-reported impulsivity was assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale(BIS-11).The scale yields three second-order factors:Attentional,motor and non-planning.Behavioural impulsivity was investigated with the continuous performance test(CPT),a computer-based task of sustained attention in which numbers are flashed briefly on screen and participants are required to click the mouse when the same number appears consecutively.The rate of commission and omission errors can be used a measure of behavioural imulsivity.RESULTS AN participants self-reported increased attentional [AN:20.67(3.64),HC:13.88(2.91),P = 0.001] and reduced motor impulsivity [AN:11.55(2.28),HC:14.08(2.78),P = 0.002].The rate of omission or commission errors on the CPT did not differ between groups(P > 0.05).BIS-11 and CPT measures did not significantly correlate,but attentional impulsivity was related to negative mood states in AN(depression:r = 0.52,P = 0.010,anxiety:r = 0.55,P = 0.006,stress:r = 0.57,P = 0.004).CONCLUSION The discrepancy between self-reported and behavioural impulsivity are discussed in terms of perfectionism in AN.Furthermore,it is suggested that improving negative mood states may resolve this inconsistency in AN.