Transient patterns of advanced brain ageing in female adolescents with anorexia nervosa
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Background Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder characterised by undernutrition, significantly low body weight and large, although possibly transient, reductions in brain structure. Advanced brain ageing tracks accelerated age-related changes in brain morphology that have been linked to psychopathology and adverse clinical outcomes. Aim The aim of the current case–control study was to characterise cross-sectional and longitudinal patterns of advanced brain age in acute anorexia nervosa and during the recovery process. Method Measures of grey- and white-matter-based brain age were obtained from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans of 129 acutely underweight female anorexia nervosa patients (of which 95 were assessed both at baseline and after approximately 3 months of nutritional therapy), 39 recovered patients and 167 healthy female controls, aged 12–23 years. The difference between chronological age and grey- or white-matter-based brain age was calculated to indicate brain-predicted age difference (BrainAGEGM and BrainAGEWM). Results Acute anorexia nervosa patients at baseline, but not recovered patients, showed a higher BrainAGEGM of 1.79 years (95% CI [1.45, 2.13]) compared to healthy controls. However, the difference was largely reduced for BrainAGEWM. After partial weight restoration, BrainAGEGM decreased substantially (beta = −1.69; CI [−1.93, −1.46]). BrainAGEs were unrelated to symptom severity or depression, but larger weight gain predicted larger normalisation of BrainAGEGM in the longitudinal patient sample (beta = −0.65; CI [−0.75, −0.54]). Conclusions Our findings suggest that in patients with anorexia nervosa, undernutrition is an important predictor of advanced grey-matter-based brain age, which itself might be transient in nature and largely undetectable after weight recovery.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 499-505 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | British journal of psychiatry |
Volume | 225 |
Issue number | 5 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2024 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 39660805 |
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ORCID | /0000-0003-2132-4445/work/176862718 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-5112-405X/work/176863001 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-5413-0359/work/176863353 |
Keywords
Sustainable Development Goals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- anorexia nervosa, Brain age, longitudinal, neuroimaging, recovery