Advances in the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa using brain imaging.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Anorexia and bulimia nervosa are severe psychiatric disorders and the availability of brain imaging techniques hold promise that those techniques will be useful in clinical practice. AREAS COVERED: In this review I describe currently available brain imaging techniques and focus on the brain imaging methods functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Those techniques have helped describe alterations in brain circuitry in AN and BN that related to anxiety and reward processing. Novel computational models help further define brain function in relation to particular neurotransmitters. EXPERT OPINION: Brain imaging techniques are exciting methods to learn about brain function and progress has been made to identify in healthy populations b

SUBMITTER: Frank GK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3427937 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature