Neuropsychological Study of Underweight and 'Weight-Recovered' Anorexia Nervosa Compared with Bulimia Nervosa and Normal Controls

Objective: To compare executive,\ud memory and visuospatial functioning of\ud DSM-IV anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia\ud nervosa (BN), and normal controls (NC).\ud Method: A comparison of women\ud involving: (i) 16 AN with body mass indices\ud (BMI) 17.5 kg/m2; (ii) 12 AN with\ud BMI[18.5 kg/m2 for at least 3 months;\ud (iii) 13 BN; and (iv) 16 NC participants\ud was performed with groups of similar\ud age and intelligence. Groups were\ud assessed with EDE-12, MADRS, HAMA,\ud Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) battery,\ud and Bechara tasks.\ud Results: Significant impairments in CDR\ud Power of Attention were present in\ud underweight AN and BN participants.\ud CDR Morse Tapping was significantly\ud impaired in all clinical groups. The BN\ud and weight-recovered AN groups were\ud significantly impaired on CDR immediate\ud word recall. The BN group alone was significantly\ud impaired on CDR delayed word\ud recall.\ud Conclusion: Attentional impairment is\ud similar in AN and BN. Impaired motor\ud tasks in AN persist after ‘‘weight-recovery’’\ud and are similar to impairments in\ud BN. BN may be discriminated from AN\ud on word recall