8- Eating Disorders Flashcards
What are the 2 main eating disorders?
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
How is anorexia characterised?
Persistent reduction in energy intake
What does anorexia lead to?
Significantly low body weight
What fear do people with anorexia feel?
An intense fear of gaining weight
What behaviour do people with anorexia engage in?
Persistent behaviour that interferes with weight gain
What do people with anorexia experience?
Disturbance in experience of own body weight, lack of recognition of seriousness of current low body weight
What is bulimia characterised by?
Recurrent binge eating episodes
What is a binge eating episode?
Eating more within a discrete time period
What do people with bulimia experience?
A sense of lack of control overeating
What do people with bulimia engage in?
Compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain
2 biological explanations of anorexia
Hypothalamus dysfunction and dopamine
Who came up with the hypothalamus dysfunction theory and what does it say?
Garfinkel & Gardner (1982)- disturbed hypothalamus function means lack of weight thermostat
What additional evidence supports the hypothalamus dysfunction theory of anorexia?
Other hypothalamus functions are impaired in anorexia
What is BMI correlated with in the hypothalamus?
Grey matter
Why is evidence for the hypothalamus dysfunction theory unclear?
Other brain regions are also atrophied
What does amphetamine lead to?
Anxiety in anorexia, but euphoria in healthy controls
What could explain why food produces anxiety in anorexia?
Dopamine system release is interpreted as anxiety instead of pleasurable
Why is it hard to interpret findings of causes of anorexia?
Other factors are important
What suggests sociocultural influences in eating disorders?
Changes in prevalence over the last 20 years being much higher
Which brain regions is activity not reduced in in bulimia when hungry vs when full?
Striatum and amygdala
What could disinhibited eating in bulimia result from?
Failure to devalue food reward when full
What is a key symptom of Prader-Willi syndrome?
Insatiable hunger
What causes Prader-Willi syndrome?
Chromosome 15 issues
What is disrupted in Prader-Willi syndrome?
Development and functioning of hypothalamus and several neurotransmitters involved in eating
What is a result of Prader-Willi syndrome being left untreated?
People become extremely obese and die in early childhood
