Connection Between Pleasure-Regulating Brain Chemical and Anorexia
Increased chemical activity in a part of the brain involved in reward and reinforcement may help shed light on the question of why anorexia sufferers feel driven to lose weight but don’t get any pleasure from it. New research with anorexia sufferers using brain-imaging technology found overactivity of dopamine receptors in a part of the brain known as the basal ganglia. Around 1 percent of women in the US suffer from anorexia, a disorder that can also affect men.
The APA reports on work carried out as part of a study, backed by the National Institute of Mental Health, into the genetics of anorexia nervosa. This part of the study used brain-imaging techniques to discover that women suffering from anorexia nervosa show increased dopaminergic activity in the basal ganglia. Dopamine is a brain chemical associated with regulating pleasure.
“The take-home message is dopamine in this area may be very important in how we respond to stimuli, how we view positive and negative reinforcement,” said Dr. Walter Kaye, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and one of the researchers involved in the study.
Dr. Guido Frank, a child psychiatry fellow at the University of California at San Diego and also a leader of the study, said the hope is that the research can lead to the development of drugs to treat anorexia.
Women suffering from anorexia have obsessional personalities, avoid harm and prefer routine, said Dr. Douglas Bunnell, past president of the National Eating Disorders Association and clinical director of the Renfrew Center of Connecticut. These women tend to resist therapy and have a distorted perception of themselves, he said.
Although only a small number of women get anorexia in its purest form, there are many more people who suffer from some form of an eating disorder, Bunnell said. Making the connection between anorexia and what’s happening in the brain is important for understanding and treating eating disorders, he said.
“There’s still considerable stigma attached to these disorders, particularly for families. People think it reflects something you did as a parent,” Bunnell said.
Though the ultimate goal from the latest study would be to develop treatments for anorexia, the work may also provide data important in anorexia prevention and identifying people at risk of developing the disease, Johnson said.
Frank said researchers still don’t know what is causing the dopamine receptor to be overactive, but more research may provide an answer.
Our earlier post “Pro Anorexia on Xanga and Across the Web” continues to attract comments from visitors about the view of some sufferers that anorexia nervosa can be viewed as a lifestyle choice.
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This article was last reviewed by on Friday, 15th July 2005. You can leave a response below.
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19th March 2006
Peter Kramer , in “Against depression”, has a chapter on brain imaging studies…. Chapter 5….. seems to support these data for “depression” and other illnesses….
20th March 2006
Hi Jean,
Thank you for writing. I haven’t read the book myself, but I’ve encountered some positive comments about it. I’m guessing you found it worthwhile, and possibly relevant to a broader area than just depression?
All the best,
Greg