Appetitive Conditioning in Anorexia Nervosa

Summary

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by a reduced drive to pursue rewarding experiences and stimuli. Food consumption - which is almost universally experienced as pleasurable - is not described as rewarding by those with AN. This is thought to be underpinned by abnormalities around reward learning. However, the most fundamental question relating to reward in AN - whether those with AN may learn positive associations - remains unaddressed.

In this study, the investigators will identify the patterns of how those with AN acquire positive associations, how they diminish, and their relationships to physiology (heart rate and pupil responses) and brain activation. In assessing the robustness of this learning, the investigators will investigate the extent to which this association is reactivated after 24 hours, and the extent to which a memory prompt will help reinstate this previously learned positive association.

This project will allow for important advances in our understanding of the neurobiology of AN. The investigators will first identify if, and how, those with AN come to learn positive associations to cues, and secondly, the extent to which learned positive associations remain over time. Moreover, the investigators will use machine learning to ascertain whether reward learning can be predicted by physiological and neural biomarkers.

Conditions

• Anorexia Nervosa

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

appetitive conditioning

The investigators will examine acquisition and extinction of learned associations to positively-valenced, socially rewarding yet symptom-neutral infant laughter sounds in an appetitive conditioning paradigm. The investigators will also examine spontaneous recovery of this association 24 hours later when re-presented with these cues, and the reinstatement of this association when re-exposed to infant laughter.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern California

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Toronto

  collaborator OTHER

• California Institute of Technology

  collaborator OTHER

• Klarman Family Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jamie D Feusner, M.D. · Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

• Stuart Murray, Ph.D. · University of Southern California

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Max Age

22 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-09-30

Primary Completion

2025-12-25

Completion

2026-06-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations