Alternative Frameworks for Advancing the Study of Eating Disorders

Sarah A Stern; Cynthia M Bulik

doi:10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.001

Alternative Frameworks for Advancing the Study of Eating Disorders

Trends Neurosci. 2020 Dec;43(12):951-959. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.001. Epub 2020 Oct 31.

Authors

Sarah A Stern¹, Cynthia M Bulik²

Affiliations

¹ Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: cbulik@med.unc.edu.

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.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Anorexia Nervosa*
Binge-Eating Disorder*
Feeding and Eating Disorders*
Humans
Models, Animal
Neuroimaging

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding