Cognitive flexibility in verbal and nonverbal domains and decision making in anorexia nervosa patients: a pilot study

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Giovanni Abbate-Daga¹  Secondo Fassino¹  Sara Buzzichelli¹  Federico Amianto¹  Giuseppe Rocca¹  Enrica Marzola¹  Shawn M McClintock² 

[1] Eating Disorders Center, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Italy;University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Psychiatry Dallas, Texas, USA;New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University, Psychiatry New York, New York, USA;

关键词: Eating Disorder;    Anorexia Nervosa;    Eating Disorder;    Healthy Control Group;    Cognitive Flexibility;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-11-162

 received in 2011-04-22, accepted in 2011-10-07,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThis paper aimed to investigate cognitive rigidity and decision making impairments in patients diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa Restrictive type (AN-R), assessing also verbal components.MethodsThirty patients with AN-R were compared with thirty age-matched healthy controls (HC). All participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery comprised of the Trail Making Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Hayling Sentence Completion Task, and the Iowa Gambling Task. The Beck Depression Inventory was administered to evaluate depressive symptomatology. The influence of both illness duration and neuropsychological variables was considered. Body Mass Index (BMI), years of education, and depression severity were considered as covariates in statistical analyses.ResultsThe AN-R group showed poorer performance on all neuropsychological tests. There was a positive correlation between illness duration and the Hayling Sentence Completion Task Net score, and number of completion answers in part B. There was a partial effect of years of education and BMI on neuropsychological test performance. Response inhibition processes and verbal fluency impairment were not associated with BMI and years of education, but were associated with depression severity.ConclusionsThese data provide evidence that patients with AN-R have cognitive rigidity in both verbal and non-verbal domains. The role of the impairment on verbal domains should be considered in treatment. Further research is warranted to better understand the relationship between illness state and cognitive rigidity and impaired decision-making.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Abbate-Daga et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011