Anorexia nervosa: selective processing of food-related word and pictorial stimuli in recognition and free recall tests

Abstract

Objective: Maladaptive processing of food cues is considered pivotal in the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa. However, the influence of hunger and differences in processing because of the type of stimuli remain largely unclear.

Method: Memory bias for food-related pictorial and semantic stimuli was assessed in a recognition and a free recall test in 16 anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, 16 control participants with food intake prior to the study (CG-FI) and 16 control participants with a fasting period prior to the study (CG-NF).

Results: Compared with CG-FI participants, both AN and CG-NF participants responded faster to food-related as compared with neutral words (p < .001) in the recognition test. Differences were found for word but not for pictorial stimuli. No group differences were observed with respect to the number of correct retrievals in either the recognition or the free recall test.

Conclusion: The present study found behavioral indications of abnormal processing of food-related and neutral stimuli in anorectic patients similar to those found in fasted healthy controls. Results are discussed in terms of self-schemata in eating disorders, competitive interference, and levels of processing.