Electrophysiologic Evidence for Multilevel Deficits in Emotional Face Processing in Patients With Bulimia Nervosa

Bibliographic Data

ID19302268
AuthorsNicole Kühnpast (Chemnitz University of Technology), Klaus Gramann (0000-0003-2673-1832), Olga Pollatos (0000-0002-0512-565X, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume74
Issue7
Pages736-744
Publication date2012-09-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychosomatic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3174 • E-ISSN: 1534-7796
PublisherOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/psy.0b013e31825ca15a
PMID22826291
OpenAlexW2335692196
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited36

BACKGROUND: Empirical evidence suggests substantial deficits regarding emotion recognition in bulimia nervosa (BN). The aim of the current study was to investigate electrophysiologic evidence for deficits in emotional face processing in patients with BN. METHODS: Event-related potentials were recorded from 13 women with BN and 13 matched healthy controls while viewing neutral, happy, fearful, and angry facial expressions. Participants' recognition performance for emotional faces was tested in a subsequent categorization task. In addition, the degree of alexithymia, depression, and anxiety were assessed via questionnaires. RESULTS: Categorization of emotional faces was hampered in BN (p = .01). Amplitudes of event-related potentials differed during emotional face processing: face-specific N170 amplitudes were less pronounced for angry faces in patients with BN (mean [M] [standard deviation {SD}] = 1.46 [0.56] μV versus M [SD] = -1.23 [0.61] μV, p = .02). In contrast, P3 amplitudes were more pronounced in patients with BN as compared with controls (M [SD] = 2.64 [0.46] μV versus M [SD] = 1.25 [0.39] μV, p = .04), independent of emotional expression. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides novel electrophysiologic data showing that emotional faces are processed differently in patients with BN as compared with healthy controls. We suggest that deficits in early automatic emotion classification in BN are followed by an increased allocation of attentional resources to compensate for those deficits. These findings might contribute to a better understanding of the impaired social functioning in BN

Alexithymia · Anorexia nervosa · Anxiety · Audiology · Bulimia nervosa · Categorization · Developmental psychology · Eating disorders · Electroencephalography · Emotional expression · Event-related potential · Facial expression · Psychiatry · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Clinical Psychology · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Face Recognition and Perception · Medicine · Psychology

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