Abstract
IntroductionThe etiology of bulimic‐type eating (BTE) disorders such as binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is still largely unknown. Brain networks subserving the processing of rewards, emotions, and cognitive control seem to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Therefore, further investigations into the neurobiological underpinnings are needed to discern abnormal connectivity patterns in BTE disorders.MethodsThe present study aimed to investigate functional as well as seed‐based connectivity within well‐defined brain networks. Twenty‐seven individuals with BED, 29 individuals with BN, 28 overweight, and 30 normal‐weight control participants matched by age, gender, and education underwent resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Functional connectivity was assessed by spatial group independent component analysis and a seed‐based correlation approach by examining the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and executive network (EN).ResultsGroup comparisons revealed that BTE disorder patients exhibit aberrant functional connectivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) within the SN, as well as in the medial prefrontal cortex within the DMN. Furthermore, BED and BN groups differed from each other in functional connectivity within each network. Seed‐based correlational analysis revealed stronger synchronous dACC‐retrosplenial cortex activity in the BN group.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate abnormalities in brain networks involved in salience attribution, self‐referential processing, and cognitive control in bulimic‐type eating disorders. Together with our observation of functional connectivity differences between BED and BN, this study offers a differentiated account of both similarities and differences regarding brain connectivity in BED and BN.
Highlights
The etiology of bulimic‐type eating (BTE) disorders such as binge eat‐ ing disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is still largely unknown
The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)‐retrosplenial cortex interaction correlated with the quantity of weekly binges
Our results offer a differentiated account of the role of these brain networks in BTE disorders
Summary
The etiology of bulimic‐type eating (BTE) disorders such as binge eat‐ ing disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is still largely unknown. Increased coupling between the dACC as a seed region and the orbitofrontal cortex as well as precuneus has been demonstrated in BN (Lee et al, 2014) These brain regions have been implicated in self‐referential processing which involves monitoring one's external environment, physical appearance, and emotional state (Davey, Pujol, & Harrison, 2016), indicating that individuals with BN exhibit excessive self‐introspection contributing to the preoccupation of body image which is in line with behavioral data (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf, & Jantschek, 2007). A recent study by Baek, Morris, Kundu, and Voon (2017) did not find global network differences between obese individuals with BED and obese individuals without BED, possibly due to the small sample size They merged both groups and compared the obese group with normal‐weight healthy control participants. Similar to previous reports who observed impairments in the salience network in par‐ ticipants with obesity (García‐García et al, 2013), the obese group exhibited decreased functional connectivity in cortico‐striatal and cortico‐thalamic networks, further corroborating the importance of dopaminergic processing in the development and maintenance of obesity (Volkow, Wang, & Baler, 2011)
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