University Hospital Aachen (UKA) and the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3) at the Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2012 Aug;51(8):832-841.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2012.06.007. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Converging evidence suggests deficits in theory-of-mind (ToM) processing in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). The present study aimed at elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying ToM-deficits in AN.
A total of 19 adolescent patients with AN and 21 age-matched controls were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of a ToM-task at two time points (in-patients: admission to hospital and discharge after weight recovery). Clinical outcomes in patients were determined 1 year after admission.
Irrespective of the time point, AN patients showed reduced activation in middle and anterior temporal cortex and in the medial prefrontal cortex. Hypoactivation in the medial prefrontal cortex at admission to hospital (T1) was correlated with clinical outcome at follow-up.
Hypoactivation in the brain network supporting theory of mind may be associated with a social-cognitive endophenotype reflecting impairments of social functioning in anorexia nervosa which is predictive for a poor outcome at 1-year follow-up.
越来越多的证据表明，神经性厌食症（AN）患者在心理理论（ToM）加工方面存在缺陷。本研究旨在阐明 AN 中 ToM 缺陷的神经机制。
共纳入 19 名青少年 AN 患者和 21 名年龄匹配的对照组，在两次时间点（住院期间和体重恢复后出院）进行功能磁共振成像，以评估他们在执行 ToM 任务时的大脑活动。患者的临床结局在入院 1 年后进行评估。
无论在哪个时间点，AN 患者的中颞叶和前颞叶以及内侧前额叶的激活均减少。入院时（T1）内侧前额叶的低激活与随访时的临床结局相关。
支持心理理论的大脑网络的低激活可能与反映社会功能障碍的社会认知表型有关，而这种表型在 1 年随访时预测预后不良。
