Blunted emotion-modulated startle reflex in anorexia nervosa
Objective Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) often show difficulties in the perception, expression, and regulation of emotions and a strong avoidance of aversive feelings. According to psychobiological models, dietary restraint and accompanying weight loss may serve as a maladaptive mechanism of em...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
17 January 2019
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| In: |
The international journal of eating disorders
Year: 2019, Volume: 52, Issue: 3, Pages: 270-277 |
| ISSN: | 1098-108X |
| DOI: | 10.1002/eat.23022 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23022 Verlag, Volltext: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eat.23022 
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| Author Notes: | Timo Brockmeyer, Judith Pellegrino, Christoph Maier, Hannah M. Münch, Catherine J. Harmer, Stephan Walther, Wolfgang Herzog, Hans-Christoph Friederich |
| Summary: | Objective Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) often show difficulties in the perception, expression, and regulation of emotions and a strong avoidance of aversive feelings. According to psychobiological models, dietary restraint and accompanying weight loss may serve as a maladaptive mechanism of emotion regulation by attenuating aversive emotional states in AN, thereby contributing to the maintenance of the disorder. Method Twenty-seven women with AN and 26 age-matched healthy women were shown short film-clips to elicit fear, sadness, amusement, and neutral emotional states. Eyeblink startle response was measured by electromyography in reaction to startle-eliciting acoustic stimuli presented 12 times binaurally during each film-clip. Results As compared to healthy controls, patients with AN showed a blunted startle response to the fear- but not to the sadness-eliciting stimulus. Discussion The findings support the assumption that underweight is associated with attenuated emotional reactivity to fear-eliciting material in AN. This is in line with the hypothesis that starvation and low body weight constitute a maladaptive mechanism of emotion regulation in AN, contributing to the maintenance of the disorder. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 13.05.2019 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1098-108X |
| DOI: | 10.1002/eat.23022 |