Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:10:20.939Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Functional MRI investigation of verbal working memory in adults with anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

N.P. Lao-Kaim ,
V.P. Giampietro ,
S.C.R. Williams ,
A. Simmons  and
K. Tchanturia
N.P. Lao-Kaim
Affiliation:
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, London, United Kingdom
V.P. Giampietro
Affiliation:
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroimaging, SE5 8AFLondon, United Kingdom
S.C.R. Williams
Affiliation:
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroimaging, SE5 8AFLondon, United Kingdom NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London, Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
A. Simmons
Affiliation:
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroimaging, SE5 8AFLondon, United Kingdom NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London, Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
K. Tchanturia*
Affiliation:
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, London, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. PO59, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, United Kingdom. Tel.: +44 0 207 848 0134; fax: +44 0 207 848 0182. E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Tchanturia).
Get access

Abstract

Literature regarding verbal working memory (vWM) in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been inconsistent due to a misunderstanding of the key components of vWM and introduction of confounding stimuli. Furthermore, there are no studies looking at how brain function in people with AN relates to vWM performance. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a letter n-back paradigm to study the effect of increasing vWM task difficulty on cortical functioning in the largest AN sample to date (n = 31). Although the AN group had low BMI and higher anxious and depressive symptomology compared to age-matched controls (HC), there were no between-group differences in accuracy and speed at any task difficulty. fMRI data revealed no regions exhibiting significant differences in activation when groups were compared at each difficulty separately and no regions showing group x condition interaction. Although there was a trend towards lower accuracy as duration of illness increased, this was not correlated with activity in regions associated with vWM. These findings indicate that vWM in AN is as efficient and performed using the same cognitive strategy as HC, and that there may not be a need for therapies to pursue remediation of this particular neurocognitive faculty.

Keywords

Eating disordersAnorexiaWorking memoryNeuropsychologyfMRIExecutive function
Type
Original articles
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , May 2014 , pp. 211 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript.

References

Ashburner, J., Friston, K.J.Voxel-based morphometry – the methods. NeuroImage 2000;11:805–821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A.D.The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends Cogn Sci 2000;4:417–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A.D., Hitch, G.Working memory. In: Bower, G.H. editors. The psychology of learning and motivation. New York: Academic Press; 1974. p. 47–87.Google Scholar
Blinder, B.J., Cumella, E.J., Sanathara, V.A.Psychiatric comorbidities of female inpatients with eating disorders. Psychosom Med 2006;68:454–462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosanac, P., Kurlender, S., Stojanovska, L., Hallam, K., Norman, T., McGrath, C.et al.Neuropsychological study of underweight and “weight-recovered” anorexia nervosa compared with bulimia nervosa and normal controls. Int J Eat Disord 2007;40:613–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brammer, M.J., Bullmore, E.T., Simmons, A., Williams, S.C., Grasby, P.M., Howard, R.J.et al.Generic brain activation mapping in functional magnetic resonance imaging: a nonparametric approach. Magn Reson Imaging 1997;15:763–770.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braver, T.S., Cohen, J.D., Nystrom, L.E., Jonides, J., Smith, E.E., Noll, D.C.A parametric study of prefrontal cortex involvement in human working memory. NeuroImage 1997;5:49–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, S.J., Barker, G.J., O’Daly, O.G., Brammer, M., Williams, S.C., Benedict, C.et al.Restraint of appetite and reduced regional brain volumes in anorexia nervosa: a voxel-based morphometric study. BMC Psychiatry 2011;11:179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, S.J., O’Daly, O.G., Uher, R., Schioth, H.B., Treasure, J., Campbell, I.C.Subliminal food images compromise superior working memory performance in women with restricting anorexia nervosa. Conscious Cogn 2012;21:751–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, S.J., O’Daly, O., Uher, R., Friederich, H.C., Giampietro, V., Brammer, M.et al.Thinking about eating food activates visual cortex with reduced bilateral cerebellar activation in females with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study. Plos One 2012;7:e34000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullmore, E.T., Brammer, M.J., Rabe-Hesketh, S., Curtis, V.A., Morris, R.G., Williams, S.C.R.et al.Methods for diagnosis and treatment of stimulus-correlated motion in generic brain activation studies using fMRI. Human Brain Mapp 1999;7:38–48.3.0.CO;2-Q>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bullmore, E.T., Suckling, J., Overmeyer, S., Rabe-Hesketh, S., Taylor, E., Brammer, M.J.Global, voxel, and cluster tests, by theory and permutation, for a difference between two groups of structural MR images of the brain. IEEE Trans Med Imaging 1999;18:32–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bullmore, E., Long, C., Suckling, J., Fadili, J., Calvert, G., Zelaya, F.et al.Colored noise and computational inference in neurophysiological (fMRI) time series analysis: Resampling methods in time and wavelet domains. Human Brain Mapp 2001;12:61–78.3.0.CO;2-W>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castro-Fornieles, J., Bargallo, N., Lazaro, L., Andres, S., Falcon, C., Plana, M.T.et al.A cross-sectional and follow-up voxel-based morphometric MRI study in adolescent anorexia nervosa. J Psychiatr Res 2009;43:331–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castro-Fornieles, J., Caldu, X., Andres-Perpina, S., Lazaro, L., Bargallo, N., Falcon, C.et al.A cross-sectional and follow-up functional MRI study with a working memory task in adolescent anorexia nervosa. Neuropsychologia 2010;48:4111–4116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, N.What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory? Prog Brain Res 2008;169:323–338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickson, H., Brooks, S., Uher, R., Tchanturia, K., Treasure, J., Campbell, I.C.The inability to ignore: distractibility in women with restricting anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med 2008;38:1741–1748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Druzgal, T.J., D’Esposito, M.A neural network reflecting decisions about human faces. Neuron 2001;32:947–955.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ernst, M., Mueller, S.C.The adolescent brain: insights from functional neuroimaging research. Dev Neurobiol 2008;68:729–743.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fairburn, C.G., Beglin, S.J.Assessment of eating disorders – interview or self-report questionnaire. Int J Eat Disord 1994;16:363–370.Google ScholarPubMed
First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., Williams, J.Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1997: e63964.Google Scholar
Fonville, L., Lao-Kaim, N.P., Giampietro, V., Van den Eynde, F., Davies, H., Lounes, N.et al.Evaluation of enhanced attention to local detail in anorexia nervosa using the embedded figures test. Plos One 2013;8:e63964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friman, O., Borga, M., Lundberg, P., Knutsson, H.Adaptive analysis of fMRI data. NeuroImage 2003;19:837–845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galderisi, S., Mucci, A., Monteleone, P., Sorrentino, D., Piegari, G., Maj, M.Neurocognitive functioning in subjects with eating disorders: the influence of neuroactive steroids. Biol Psychiatry 2003;53:921–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaudio, S., Nocchi, F., Franchin, T., Genovese, E., Cannata, V., Longo, D.et al.Gray matter decrease distribution in the early stages of anorexia nervosa restrictive type in adolescents. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2011;191:24–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genovese, C.R., Lazar, N.A., Nichols, T.Thresholding of statistical maps in functional neuroimaging using the false discovery rate. NeuroImage 2002;15:870–878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, M.W., Elliman, N.A., Wakeling, A., Rogers, P.J.Cognitive functioning, weight change and therapy in anorexia nervosa. J Psychiatr Res 1996;30:401–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, T.A., Camerer, C.F., Rangel, A.Self-control in decision-making involves modulation of the vmPFC valuation system. Science 2009;324:646–648.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hatch, A., Madden, S., Kohn, M.R., Clarke, S., Touyz, S., Gordon, E.et al.In first presentation adolescent anorexia nervosa. Do cognitive markers of underweight status change with weight gain following a refeeding intervention? Int J Eat Disord 2010;43:295–306.Google ScholarPubMed
Ho, D.E., Imai, K., King, G., Stuart, E.A.Matching as nonparametric preprocessing for reducing model dependence in parametric causal inference. Polit Anal 2007;15:199–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, D.E., Imai, K., King, G., Stuart, E.A.MatchIt: Nonparametric preprocessing for parametric causal inference, version 2.4-20. J Stat Softw 2007 [http://gking.harvard.edu/matchit/ (Accessed 10 January, 2013)].Google Scholar
Hollmann, M., Hellrung, L., Pleger, B., Schlogl, H., Kabisch, S., Stumvoll, M.et al.Neural correlates of the volitional regulation of the desire for food. Int J Obesity 2012;36:648–655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IBM Corp. SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp; 2011.Google Scholar
Kemps, E., Tiggemann, M., Wade, T., Ben-Tovim, D., Breyer, R.Selective working memory deficits in anorexia nervosa. Eur Eat Disord Rev 2006;14:97–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Key, A., O’Brien, A., Gordon, I., Christie, D., Lask, B.Assessment of neurobiology in adults with anorexia nervosa. Eur Eat Disord Rev 2006;14:308–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingston, K., Szmukler, G., Andrewes, D., Tress, B., Desmond, P.Neuropsychological and structural brain changes in anorexia nervosa before and after refeeding. Psychol Med 1996;26:15–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenigs, M., Barbey, A.K., Postle, B.R., Grafman, J.Superior parietal cortex is critical for the manipulation of information in working memory. J Neurosci 2009;29:14980–14986.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lopez, C., Tchanturia, K., Stahl, D., Treasure, J.Central coherence in eating disorders: a systematic review. Psychol Med 2008;38:1393–1404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lopez, C., Stahl, D., Tchanturia, K.Estimated intelligence quotient in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Ann Gen Psychiatr 2010;9:40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, M.M., Rubin, R.B.A new measure of cognitive flexibility. Psychol Rep 1995;76:623–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathias, J.L., Kent, P.S.Neuropsychological consequences of extreme weight loss and dietary restriction in patients with anorexia nervosa. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1998;20:548–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, E.K., Desimone, R.Parallel neuronal mechanisms for short-term memory. Science 1994;263:520–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, G.A., Galanter, E., Pribram, K.Plans and the structure of behaviour. New York: Holt; 1960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mond, J.M., Hay, P.J., Rodgers, B., Owen, C., Beumont, P.J.Validity of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) in screening for eating disorders in community samples. Behav Res Ther 2004;42:551–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Müller, N.G., Knight, R.T.The functional neuroanatomy of working memory: contributions of human brain lesion studies. Neuroscience 2006;139:51–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mundt, J.C., Marks, I.M., Shear, M.K., Greist, J.H.The Work and Social Adjustment Scale: a simple measure of impairment in functioning. Br J Psychiatry 2002;180:461–464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, H.E., Willison, J.R.The revised National Adult Reading Test (NART): Test Manual, 2nd edition, Windsor, UK: NFER Nelson; 1991.Google Scholar
Nikendei, C., Funiok, C., Pfuller, U., Zastrow, A., Aschenbrenner, S., Weisbrod, M.et al.Memory performance in acute and weight-restored anorexia nervosa patients. Psychol Med 2011;41:829–838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Owen, A.M., McMillan, K.M., Laird, A.R., Bullmore, E.N-back working memory paradigm: a meta-analysis of normative functional neuroimaging studies. Human Brain Mapp 2005;25:46–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pietrini, F., Castellini, G., Ricca, V., Polito, C., Pupi, A., Faravelli, C.Functional neuroimaging in anorexia nervosa: a clinical approach. Eur Psychiatry 2011;26:176–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plichta, M.M., Schwarz, A.J., Grimm, O., Morgen, K., Mier, D., Haddad, L.et al.Test-retest reliability of evoked BOLD signals from a cognitive-emotive fMRI test battery. NeuroImage 2012;60:1746–1758.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ranganath, C., D’Esposito, M.Directing the mind's eye: prefrontal, inferior and medial temporal mechanisms for visual working memory. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2005;15:175–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ravizza, S.M., McCormick, C.A., Schlerf, J.E., Justus, T., Ivry, R.B., Fiez, J.A.Cerebellar damage produces selective deficits in verbal working memory. Brain 2006;129:306–320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmon, E., Van der Linden, M., Collette, F., Delfiore, G., Maquet, P., Degueldre, C.et al.Regional brain activity during working memory tasks. Brain 1996;119:1617–1625.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sattler, J.M., Ryan, J.J.Assessment with the WAIS-IV. San Diego, California: J.M. Sattler Publishing Company; 2009.Google Scholar
Schwartz, S., Susser, E.The use of well controls: an unhealthy practice in psychiatric research. Psychol Med 2011;41:1127–1131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seed, J.A., McCue, P.M., Wesnes, K.A., Dahabra, S., Young, A.H.Basal activity of the HPA axis and cognitive function in anorexia nervosa. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2002;5:17–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shott, M.E., Filoteo, J.V., Jappe, L.M., Pryor, T., Maddox, W.T., Rollin, M.D.H.et al.Altered implicit category learning in anorexia nervosa. Neuropsychology 2012;26:191–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, A., Moore, E., Williams, S.C.R.Quality control for functional magnetic resonance imaging using automated data analysis and Shewhart charting. Magn Reson Med 1999;41:1274–1278.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, E.E., Jonides, J., Marshuetz, C., Koeppe, R.A.Components of verbal working memory: evidence from neuroimaging. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1998;95:876–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szmukler, G.I., Andrewes, D., Kingston, K., Chen, L., Stargatt, R., Stanley, R.Neuropsychological Impairment in anorexia nervosa: before and after refeeding. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1992;14:347–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Talairach, J., Tournoux, P.Co-planar stereotactic atlas of the human brain. Stuttgart: Thieme; 1988.Google Scholar
Tchanturia, K., Davies, H., Roberts, M., Harrison, A., Nakazato, M., Schmidt, U.et al.Poor cognitive flexibility in eating disorders: examining the evidence using the wisconsin card sorting task. Plos One 2012;7:e28331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tchanturia, K., Lloyd, S., Lang, K.Cognitive remediation therapy for anorexia nervosa: current evidence and future research directions. Int J Eat Disord 2013;46:492–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treasure, J., Claudino, A.M., Zucker, N.Eating disorders. Lancet 2010;375:583–593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Witt, E.D., Ryan, C., Hsu, L.K.Learning deficits in adolescents with anorexia nervosa. J Nerv Ment Dis 1985;173:182–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zigmond, A.S., Snaith, R.P.The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1983;67:361–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Lao-Kaim et al. supplementary material

Tables S1-S3

Download Lao-Kaim et al. supplementary material(File)
File 37.2 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.