Influence of rewards on behaviour in Anorexia Nervosa version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Individual differences in the influence of rewards and their cues on approach behaviour in Anorexia Nervosa
IRAS ID
186352
Contact name
Samantha Rennalls
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a debilitating illness with low rates of recovery, high rates of relapse, and the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders. Research shows that patients have altered reward processing underlain by abnormal functioning within fronto-striatal circuits. However, the key factors that maintain the illness and increase risk of relapse, remain unclear.
Altered reward processing is also observed in other psychiatric disorders, such as addiction, and the addiction literature reports that the way people respond to rewards and reward-related cues is linked to the trajectory of illness. Despite similarities in disorder presentation, this link has not yet been explored in anorexia.
This study aims to address this problem by using computer-based tasks to assess how people with AN at different stages of illness respond to reward-related cues, and how these responses are linked to eating disorder symptoms and decision-making behaviour.
The data will increase understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance and relapse of AN. This will have implications for the development of strategies that help to predict who will respond to certain interventions, and will help identify people who are at the highest risk of relapse.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0382
Date of REC Opinion
13 May 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion