Characteristics of functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with bulimia nervosa / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Bulimia nervosa (BN) is a kind of mental disorder characterized by repeated episodes of uncontrollable overeating, accompanied by compensatory behavior to prevent weight gain and excessive attention to one's own weight and body shape. Cognitive control, reward processing, and emotional processing are three interrelated neuropsychological processes.Cognitive control regulates reward processing while also being regulated by emotional effects. This article reviews functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) researches on cognitive control, reward processing, emotional processing and intervention in BN, aiming to summarize substantive progress and provide inspiration for future interventions targeting BN. It can be seen from the review that the abnormal cognitive control of BN patients is related to the decreased functional activity of the frontal lobe striatum circuit.Abnormal activation of brain regions related to reward processing such as anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum and insula.The reaction of the right amygdala, the left anterior cingulate cortex and the left insular lobe of BN patients under negative emotion was weaker than that of healthy people. After medication and psychotherapy, the abnormalities of the prefrontal lobe and limbic system were improved to some extent.