A recent study that was conducted through Heidelberg University Hospital, found that people with anorexia generally have troubled changing their behavior. This inability to alter behaviors is not only true of eating habits, but of almost all other actions, the researchers found.

A Heidelberg University release provided the following details:

• The Heidelberg researchers examined a total of 30 young women with and without anorexia by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
• The participants underwent a test that measured their capacity for flexible behavior modification of recently learned behavior.
• In this test, the subjects were shown a rapid sequence of various geometric shapes and asked to match them.
• After one test run, the matching principle was changed.
• The anorexic patients had a harder time adjusting to the new expectations, and more often clung to the familiar behavioral responses.

The researchers reported that they hope their findings will lead to the development of new treatment programs that target the flexible modification of behavioral responses.

Labels: research, behaviors

Posted By: Aspen/CRC