877 – Structural neuroimaging studies in bulimia nervosa: a review

Abstract

Introduction The understanding of neurobiology of eating disorders has received a remarkable contribution from neuroimaging research. Objective To review the literature on structural neuroimaging in bulimia nervosa. Aim To discuss recent contributions of structural neuroimaging to the understanding of bulimia nervosa. Methods MEDLINE and PubMed databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies, published between 2000 and 2012, by using combinations of the Medline Subject Heading terms structural neuroimaging and bulimia nervosa. A selection of relevant articles to the aim of this review was carried out. Results Relatively few articles on structural neuroimaging were found in bulimia nervosa, and the studies showed conflicting results. Some studies reported evidence of brain volume loss in patients with bulimia nervosa, possibly related to associated chronic dietary restriction. Other studies have found increased grey matter volumes in frontal and ventral striatal areas. Finally, further studies did not find any structural abnormality at all in patients with bulimia nervosa, compared to healthy control subjects. Conclusions The scarce literature available on structural neuroimaging in bulimia nervosa provides conflicting results. Further studies are, therefore, warranted.