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Memory performance in acute and weight-restored anorexia nervosa patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2010

C. Nikendei ,
C. Funiok ,
U. Pfüller ,
A. Zastrow ,
S. Aschenbrenner ,
M. Weisbrod ,
W. Herzog  and
H.-C. Friederich
C. Nikendei*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
C. Funiok
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
U. Pfüller
Affiliation:
Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Heidelberg, Germany Centre for Psychiatry, Wiesloch, Germany
A. Zastrow
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
S. Aschenbrenner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, SRH Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Germany
M. Weisbrod
Affiliation:
Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Heidelberg, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, SRH Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Germany
W. Herzog
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
H.-C. Friederich
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
*
*Address for correspondence: C. Nikendei, M.D., Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Thibautstrasse 2, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Anorexia nervosa (AN), at the stage of starvation and emaciation, is characterized by abnormalities in cognitive function, including memory performance. It is unclear whether memory impairment persists or is reversible following weight restoration, and whether memory function differs between AN subtypes. The aim of the present study was to investigate general memory performance in currently ill and fully weight-restored patients of different AN subtypes.

Method

Memory performance was assessed using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) in a total of 99 participants, including 34 restricting-type AN patients (AN-RESTR), 19 binge-eating/purging-type AN patients (AN-PURGE), 16 weight-restored AN patients (AN-W-R) and 30 healthy controls (CONTROL). Cognitive evaluation included a battery of standardized neuropsychological tasks for validating the findings on memory function.

Results

Deficits were found with respect to immediate and delayed story recall in currently ill AN patients irrespective of AN subtype. These deficits persisted in weight-restored AN patients. Currently ill and weight-restored AN patients did not differ significantly from healthy controls with respect to working memory or other measures of neuropsychological functioning.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that impaired memory performance is either a stable trait characteristic or a scar effect of chronic starvation that may play a role in the development and/or persistence of the disorder.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosaeating disordersmemoryneuropsychologicalsubtypes
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , April 2011 , pp. 829 - 838
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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