BIOLOGICAL explanations of AN

Question 1

Characteristics of AN

Answer 1

Behavioural-Extremely low food intake
Physical-Very low body weight for height
Emotional-Intense fear of gaining weight
Cognitive-Body dismorphia

Question 2

Genetics

Answer 2

Looks at hereditary factors.Uses twin studies to see extent of biological determination.HOLLAND ET AL

Question 3

HOLLAND ET AL-GENETIC

Answer 3

Studied twins who had AN.Found a concordance rate of 56% for MZ twins yet only 5% for DZ twins.Suggests there is a genetic component to AN.

Question 4

Neural-Serotonin

Answer 4

Increased serotonin levels are associated with high anxiety and irratability.Starvation lowers tryptophan levels which causes a decrease in serotonin.Therefore making person feel better.

Question 5

Neural-Dopamine

Answer 5

High levels of dopamine can alter the way people see/view rewards.Can explain why AN starts,as people don’t associate food with pleasure/reward.

Question 6

A03-Holland et al

Answer 6

NOT 100% concordance rates meaning there must be other causes.
AN rates have increased too quickly to be purely genetic.

Question 7

A03-NEURAL

Answer 7

Can lead to neural treatments and has practical application.
Serotonin/dopamine explanations are all correlation not causation

Question 8

Neural-KEYE et al

Answer 8

Completed PET SCANS,10 AN Women and 12 healthy women.Found overactivity of dopamine receptors in the AN patients.Supports the idea of dopamine and how it affects reward and pleasure.