Alternative Frameworks for Advancing the Study of Eating Disorders

Abstract

Eating disorders are life-interrupting psychiatric conditions with high morbidity and mortality, yet the basic mechanisms underlying these conditions are understudied compared with other psychiatric disorders. In this opinion, we suggest that recent knowledge gleaned from genomic and neuroimaging investigations of eating disorders in humans presents a rich opportunity to sharpen animal models of eating disorders and to identify neural mechanisms that contribute to the risk and maintenance of these conditions. Our article reflects the state of the science, with a primary focus on anorexia nervosa (AN) and binge-eating behavior, and encourages further study of all conditions categorized under feeding and eating disorders.

Keywords: GWAS; animal models; anorexia nervosa; genomics; neural circuits; neuroimaging.

Figure 1.

Schematic for proposed refined framework for incorporating and integrating emerging knowledge from genomics, neuroimaging, cellular biology, and animal models to identify implicated genes, circuits, and underlying biological processes associated with both core behavioral features and threshold eating disorder syndromes. Created with BioRender.com.