Avoidance habit learning in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study

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Autori principali: Julius Hennig, Ilka Boehm, Katharina Zwosta, Joseph A. King, Daniel Geisler, Hannes Ruge, Maria Seidel, Fabio Bernardoni, Inger Hellerhoff, Arne Doose, Sophie Pauligk, Henri Leschzinski, Veit Roessner, Uta Wolfensteller, Stefan Ehrlich
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Pubblicazione: Wiley 2025
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author Julius Hennig
Ilka Boehm
Katharina Zwosta
Joseph A. King
Daniel Geisler
Hannes Ruge
Maria Seidel
Fabio Bernardoni
Inger Hellerhoff
Arne Doose
Sophie Pauligk
Henri Leschzinski
Veit Roessner
Uta Wolfensteller
Stefan Ehrlich
author_facet Julius Hennig
Ilka Boehm
Katharina Zwosta
Joseph A. King
Daniel Geisler
Hannes Ruge
Maria Seidel
Fabio Bernardoni
Inger Hellerhoff
Arne Doose
Sophie Pauligk
Henri Leschzinski
Veit Roessner
Uta Wolfensteller
Stefan Ehrlich
Julius Hennig
Ilka Boehm
Katharina Zwosta
Joseph A. King
Daniel Geisler
Hannes Ruge
Maria Seidel
Fabio Bernardoni
Inger Hellerhoff
Arne Doose
Sophie Pauligk
Henri Leschzinski
Veit Roessner
Uta Wolfensteller
Stefan Ehrlich
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Avoidance habit learning in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study Julius Hennig Ilka Boehm Katharina Zwosta Joseph A. King Daniel Geisler Hannes Ruge Maria Seidel Fabio Bernardoni Inger Hellerhoff Arne Doose Sophie Pauligk Henri Leschzinski Veit Roessner Uta Wolfensteller Stefan Ehrlich Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Background Anorexia nervosa (AN), often with an onset in adolescence, is a complex eating disorder characterized by distorted body image, fear of weight gain, and extreme food restriction, leading to severe underweight. Excessive goal pursuit and avoidance behaviors have been proposed as key factors in AN, which over time may become over‐trained into habits. Methods This study investigated the behavioral and neural correlates of habit learning in AN with an experiment consisting of three consecutive phases: (1) training goal‐directed behavior, (2) avoidance learning, and (3) a habit test. Forty‐five acutely underweight adolescent female patients with AN and 45 age‐matched healthy control participants underwent an fMRI scan. Results No behavioral group differences were evident either during learning of avoidance habits or when testing habit strength. Importantly, however, the AN group showed both generally superior task performance and increased involvement of the frontoparietal brain regions during habit learning. Conclusions Collectively, our findings provide novel evidence suggesting that excessive goal pursuit may predominate in young AN in an avoidance learning context. Future research should examine if this tendency develops into habit learning over time and investigate the speed and strength of avoidance habit formation in adults with a longer history of AN to further elucidate the intricate dynamic between goal‐directed and habitual processes in the disorder. 10.1111/jcpp.70019 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1111/jcpp.70019
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spellingShingle Avoidance habit learning in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study
Julius Hennig
Ilka Boehm
Katharina Zwosta
Joseph A. King
Daniel Geisler
Hannes Ruge
Maria Seidel
Fabio Bernardoni
Inger Hellerhoff
Arne Doose
Sophie Pauligk
Henri Leschzinski
Veit Roessner
Uta Wolfensteller
Stefan Ehrlich
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Avoidance habit learning in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study Julius Hennig Ilka Boehm Katharina Zwosta Joseph A. King Daniel Geisler Hannes Ruge Maria Seidel Fabio Bernardoni Inger Hellerhoff Arne Doose Sophie Pauligk Henri Leschzinski Veit Roessner Uta Wolfensteller Stefan Ehrlich Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Background Anorexia nervosa (AN), often with an onset in adolescence, is a complex eating disorder characterized by distorted body image, fear of weight gain, and extreme food restriction, leading to severe underweight. Excessive goal pursuit and avoidance behaviors have been proposed as key factors in AN, which over time may become over‐trained into habits. Methods This study investigated the behavioral and neural correlates of habit learning in AN with an experiment consisting of three consecutive phases: (1) training goal‐directed behavior, (2) avoidance learning, and (3) a habit test. Forty‐five acutely underweight adolescent female patients with AN and 45 age‐matched healthy control participants underwent an fMRI scan. Results No behavioral group differences were evident either during learning of avoidance habits or when testing habit strength. Importantly, however, the AN group showed both generally superior task performance and increased involvement of the frontoparietal brain regions during habit learning. Conclusions Collectively, our findings provide novel evidence suggesting that excessive goal pursuit may predominate in young AN in an avoidance learning context. Future research should examine if this tendency develops into habit learning over time and investigate the speed and strength of avoidance habit formation in adults with a longer history of AN to further elucidate the intricate dynamic between goal‐directed and habitual processes in the disorder. 10.1111/jcpp.70019 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Avoidance habit learning in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa: an fMRI study
topic Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
url https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.70019