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Set shifting deficit in anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2006

JOANNA E. STEINGLASS ,
B. TIMOTHY WALSH  and
YAAKOV STERN
JOANNA E. STEINGLASS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, and The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
B. TIMOTHY WALSH
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, and The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
YAAKOV STERN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, and The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York Department of Neurology, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, New York
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Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe mental illness characterized in part by rigid thinking and ritualized behaviors involving eating and weight. Cognitive rigidity may play a role in the perpetuation of symptoms, and may provide information as to important brain-based abnormalities. Neuropsychological studies of patients with AN have shown cognitive dysfunction, but few have focused on cognitive flexibility. This study assessed set shifting in patients with AN, as a measure of cognitive flexibility. In this study, 15 patients with AN were compared with 11 healthy controls using a neuropsychological battery including the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST). While patients with AN did not differ from controls on 5 measures of neuropsychological function, they made significantly more perseverative errors on the WCST, indicating a problem in set shifting. This finding suggests that patients with AN have a specific neurocognitive abnormality that may play a role in the development and persistence of this disorder. (JINS, 2006, 12, 431–435.)

Keywords

Wisconsin Card Sort TestCognitionNeuropsychologyEating disordersCognitive flexibilityNeuropsychological tests
Type
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , May 2006 , pp. 431 - 435
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

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