Females with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa become dangerously underweight, and they actually lose gray matter in their brains. However, once they recover and regain weight, their brains recover too, according to a new study from Yale University.
- Dr. Christine Roberto and her colleagues used brain imaging technology to compare the brains of 32 adult female patients with anorexia to the brains of 21 healthy women.
- The women with eating disorders showed reductions in their brain volume at the beginning of the study.
- As they gained weight, they recover their loss of gray matter.
- Anorexia does not appear to affect the white matter in the brain. Dr. Roberto said she was unsure if such brain loss during anorexia nervosa had an effect on cognitive ability.
This study appeared in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Posted By: Eating Disorders Blog