Reprinted from Eating Disorders Review
November/December 2003 Volume 14, Number 6
©2003 Gürze Books
Numerous studies have indicated that underweight patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) have slower reaction times (impaired attention) than normal control patients. This delayed reaction is thought to be due to disturbances in cognitive function.
When Dr. G. Pieters and colleagues at the University College of St.-Jozef, Kortenberg, Belgium, gave drawing and copying assignments to 32 female inpatients aged 14 to 25, and 32 healthy patients matched for age, sex, and educational level, the patients consistently completed the tasks more quickly than the control group (J Psychiatr Res 2003;37:501).
The inpatients finished a drawing assignment significantly faster and showed shorter reaction times during the copying tasks in comparison to the control group. Movement times did not differ significantly between the two groups, but in the most complex copying task, a significant difference was reported in reaction time between the inpatients and control groups. Patients were slower than controls in the reinspection task. The AN patients also made more errors than the controls during both tasks.
The authors’ findings contrast with reports in previous studies, where underweight AN patients have shown disturbed cognitive function compared to healthy matched control patients. Dr. Pieters and colleagues hypothesize that the differences are related to cognitive factors rather than to motor impairment.