Biases in selective information-processing or attention biases are features of most psychiatric disorders. Attention biases can be measured by monitoring visual scanning behaviour (VSB) which is directly linked to attention allocation processes. This thesis presents a general framework for studies of VSB when multiple images are presented simultaneously to the viewer. Within this general framework, a novel set of VSB parameters that characterize the different stages of the visual scanning process was developed. Using this set of parameters, biases towards thin and fat body shape images were detected in Anorexia Nervosa patients. A log-likelihood ratio detector utilizing VSB parameters had both high sensitivity (92%) and high specificity (90%). Preliminary results in VSB studies also show biases in adults with Major Depressive Disorder and elderly apathetic Alzheimer’s patients. The development of sensitive physiological markers in individuals with mental illness is crucial to the advance of research, diagnosis, and treatment in psychiatry.

Animal models have yet to characterize alterations in body composition, wheel running activity, food intake, and neuroendocrine parameters, in chronic food restriction. This study investigated changes in these measures in food restricted rats, with and without access to running wheels, over four weeks. The data demonstrated that upon initiation of food restriction IGF-1 reductions paralleled loss of lean tissue while leptin levels were rapidly reduced which paralleled losses in body fat. Further, a lower limit threshold of body fat was identified, below which the correlation between leptin and fat mass was disrupted. Lastly, a decrease and plateau in body mass was mirrored by an increase and plateau in voluntary wheel activity in the food restricted population. The data suggest that there is a tight biological link between hyperactivity and body mass and that adequate nutritional support might attenuate the drive for obligate exercise even before weight is fully restored.

Biases in selective information-processing or attention biases are features of most psychiatric disorders. Attention biases can be measured by monitoring visual scanning behaviour (VSB) which is directly linked to attention allocation processes. This thesis presents a general framework for studies of VSB when multiple images are presented simultaneously to the viewer. Within this general framework, a novel set of VSB parameters that characterize the different stages of the visual scanning process was developed. Using this set of parameters, biases towards thin and fat body shape images were detected in Anorexia Nervosa patients. A log-likelihood ratio detector utilizing VSB parameters had both high sensitivity (92%) and high specificity (90%). Preliminary results in VSB studies also show biases in adults with Major Depressive Disorder and elderly apathetic Alzheimer’s patients. The development of sensitive physiological markers in individuals with mental illness is crucial to the advance of research, diagnosis, and treatment in psychiatry.

La presa de decisions, entesa com la capacitat d’escollir entre diferent alternatives, és una funció neuropsicològica que ha esdevingut un tema de recerca important dins dels trastorns mentals. S’han trobat dèficits en la presa de decisions en pacients amb lesions de l'escorça prefrontal ventromedial, així com en diversos trastorns mentals com ara els trastorns de la conducta alimentària. Els pacients amb aquests trastorns mostren una incapacitat per prendre decisions avantatjoses i una preferència pel reforç immediat, tot i les conseqüències negatives posteriors. D'altra banda, estudis recents han trobat que alguns trets de la personalitat com la impulsivitat estan relacionats amb la presa de decisions. L'objectiu d'aquest estudi és explorar la presa de decisions en una mostra de pacients amb trastorns de la conducta alimentària i estudiar la relació entre la personalitat i la presa de decisions. Hem dividit la mostra de pacients amb trastorns alimentaris en un grup restrictiu i un grup bulímic-purgatiu. La mostra estava formada per 84 pacients i 38 subjectes control sans. La Iowa Gambling Task es va utilitzar per avaluar la presa de decisions, i la Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), el Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), el Cuestionario de Sensibilidad al Castigo y Sensibilidad a la Recompensa (SPSRQ), i la Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMP) es van utilitzar per avaluar els trets de la personalitat. Els resultats van confirmar un dèficit en la presa de decisions en pacients amb trastorns alimentaris i van mostrar que la impulsivitat correlacionava negativament amb la IGT només en el grup bulímic-purgatiu, mentre que el perfeccionisme correlacionava positivament amb la IGT només en el grup restrictiu. Aquests resultats suggereixen que el dèficit en la presa de decisions es podria explicar per diferents mecanismes en el grup restrictiu i en el grup bulímic-purgatiu. / Decision-making, defined as the capacity to make decisions about a course of action, is a cognitive function which has become a major research topic within mental disorders. Impairment in decision-making has been found in patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions, as well as in several mental disorders such as eating disorders. Patients with these disorders show an inability to make advantageous decisions and a preference for immediate reward in spite of future negative consequences. Moreover, recent studies found that some personality traits such us impulsivity are related to decision-making. The aim of this study is to explore decision-making in a sample of eating disorder patients and to examine the relation between personality and decision-making. We divided the eating disorders sample into restricting and binge/purging groups. The sample consisted of 84 patients and 38 healthy control subjects. The Iowa Gambling Task was used to assess decision-making, and the Barrat Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ), and the Frost Multidimensional Personality Scale (FMPS) were used to assess personality traits. Results confirmed a deficit in decision-making in eating disorder patients and showed that impulsivity was negatively correlated with IGT only in the binge-purging group, whereas perfectionism was positively correlated with IGT only in the restricting group. These intriguing results suggest that decision-making impairment might be explained by different mechanisms in restricting and binge/purging disorders.

En el presente estudio se investiga a la anorexia y bulimia nerviosas, realizando un análisis histórico-crítico de fuentes básicamente bibliográficas. Se hizo uso del método histórico abarcando el espacio de tiempo comprendido entre la antigüedad y la época actual, enfatizando en los períodos de mayor relevancia en la aparición y desarrollo de estos trastornos. Se plantea que: (1) la llegada a Occidente de creencias orientales como las sostenidas por el Jainismo (s. IV) y diseminadas a través de órdenes Mendicantes (Edad Media alta); y, (2) los valores de la ética protestante, promovidos a partir de la Reforma, acompañados del desarrollo de la burguesía y el modo de vida capitalista; fueron dos hitos esenciales en el origen y desarrollo de la anorexia y bulimia nerviosas actuales. / The current research covers the study of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa), essentially through a historical-critical analysis of bibliographic sources. It was used the historical method covering the space of time between the antiquity and the actual era, emphasizing on the periods of major relevance in relation to the origin and development of these eating disorders. It is proposed that: (1) the arrival to Occident of oriental beliefs such as those claimed by the Jainism (s. IV a. D.) and disseminated with the Mendicant orders (High Middle Age); and (2) the values of the protestant ethic, promoted since the Reformation, accompanied with the development of the bourgeoisie and the capitalist way of life; were two landmarks in the origin and development of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, it means in the history of eating disorders.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Recreation Management and Youth Leadership, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-129). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Bakgrund: Anorexia Nervosa är en psykisk sjukdom som innebär en förändrad kroppsuppfattning med självsvält. Lidandet kan ses som en inre kamp där sjukdomen tagit makten över anorektikerns självkänsla. Sjukdomen kan kännas som en identitet på grund av att den är en så stor del av den drabbades liv. Behandlingen utförs individuellt med strävan att vända viktnedgången. Detta kan vara svårt och stressfullt för patienten, därmed är stöd och trygghet från de närstående personerna av stor vikt för ett tillfrisknande. Den närstående personen kan vara en familjemedlem, vän, granne eller nära sjukvårdskontakt exempelvis sjuksköterska. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa kvinnors upplevelser av hur närstående påverkar tillfrisknandet från Anorexia Nervosa. Metod: Den kvalitativa litteraturstudien baserades på fem självbiografier. Dataanalysen var en manifest innehållsanalys där skillnader och likheter innehållet identifierades för att beskriva variationer. Resultat: Resultatet formades utifrån fem kategorier: Betydelsen av trygghet, Att bli bekräftad, Att bli motiverad, Att känna skuld, När stödet inte är hälsofrämjande. Slutsats: De närstående personerna har en stor inverkan för kvinnors tillfrisknande av Anorexia Nervosa. Genom att ge trygghet, bekräftelse samt visa omtanke och förståelse för patienter som lider av sjukdomen ökar välbefinnandet.

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A review of the literature reveals two significant gaps in existing psychological research into eating disorders. First, despite a clear association between dysfunctional family environment and eating psychopathology, little is known about factors that might mediate between the two. Second, cognitive-behavioural treatment is unexpectedly ineffective in anorexia nervosa or in some cases of bulimia nervosa. To fill these gaps, the present research investigated the role of core beliefs in the aetiology and treatment of eating disorders. Given their early origin, core beliefs may plausibly mediate between family environment and eating disorders. In addition, unhealthy core beliefs might explain the resistance to cognitive-behavioural treatment in some instances. The thesis first considers the relationship between unhealthy core beliefs and eating psychopathology in anorexic and bulimic women. This is followed by an examination of core beliefs as an outcome predictor in cognitive-behavioural treatment for eating disorders. Finally, the role of core beliefs as a mediator between dysfunctional family environment and eating disorders is investigated. The results demonstrate high levels of unhealthy core beliefs in both anorexic and bulimic women. These core beliefs also predict the level of symptom reduction following cognitive-behavioural treatment, but only in the bulimic women. While core beliefs play a perfect mediating role in the family interaction-eating disorders link in bulimia nervosa, this relationship is less clear-cut in anorexia nervosa.