Consistency of reward responses in neutral and anxious states in adolescent females with anorexia nervosa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a difficult-to-treat psychiatric disorder that typically onsets in adolescence. AN is marked by atypical reward responsiveness and elevated anxiety. However, the neural dynamics of reward responsivity, and how this is impacted by being in an anxious state, are unknown in AN. To test this, we conducted a novel fMRI task consisting of a monetary reward following anxiety provocation or a neutral condition.

Methods

Forty-seven adolescent participants (25 females with partially or fully weight restored AN, post treatment and 22 mildly anxious controls) were presented with personalized anxiety-provoking or neutral words before receiving a reward. Mildly anxious controls were included to enable dimensional analysis of anxiety severity and to asse

SUBMITTER: Peel HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12634276 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature