Cognitive Performance in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: Subgroups in Relation to Neuropsychological Impairment
August 2008
in “
European Neuropsychopharmacology
”
TLDR Some teenagers with anorexia nervosa have worse cognitive abilities, especially in visual and spatial tasks, and this is more common in those with a lower body weight.
The study examined cognitive performance in 37 adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and compared it to 41 healthy controls, finding that while AN patients generally had poorer cognitive performance, particularly in visuo-spatial abilities, only 27% of the AN group exhibited a neuropsychological impairment in these abilities, also correlating with a lower Body Mass Index (BMI). This suggests that cognitive impairment in AN is not universal but may indicate a more severe disorder in a specific subgroup.
