Weak central coherence in eating disorders: A step towards looking for an endophenotype of eating disorders

Abstract

Previous work has found that women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have weak coherence. The aim of this study was to examine whether women who had recovered from an eating disorder (ED) also had weak coherence. A total of 42 recovered ED women and 42 healthy women were assessed with a battery of five neuropsychological tests that measure aspects of global or local functioning. The recovered ED group showed superior local processing and poorer global processing than the healthy group. These results are indicative of weak coherence. The finding that weak coherence is a stable characteristic rather than a state effect suggests that it may be an endophenotype for ED.

Keywords:

• Eating disorders
• Central coherence
• Recovery
• Endophenotype
• Cognition
• Anorexia nervosa
• Bulimia nervosa
• Detail focused processing
• Global processing

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Nina Jackson Research Into Eating Disorders (RIED). Carolina Lopez was also funded by a Chilean government scholarship.