Selective processing of food— and body—related information and autonomie arousal in patients with eating disorders

Both attentional bias (using the modified Stroop Task) and autonomic reactivity (skin conductance level) to food- and body-related information were assessed in 25 patients with eating disorders (15 patients with anorexia, 10 patients with bulimia) amI 18 women controls. Patients with anorexia showed the greatest inrerference in color-naming foodrelated words. However, on this occasion there were no difierences in body condition, probably because of heterogeneity of clinical samples and because the control group were staff members, so the target information was very familiar to them. The groups differed in their autonomic reactivity while performing Ihe Stroop. Ihe patients with anorexia responded wiíh higher 5km conductance (p < .036). The discussion focuses on the differential prohíes shown by samples and on the relationship between cognitive biases and autonomic arousal reactivity