{"id":614248,"date":"2026-09-28T11:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614248\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:36:12","slug":"bulimia-nervosa-brain-morphometric-features-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614248\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulimia Nervosa Brain Morphometric Features Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AN INTERNATIONAL ENIGMA Eating Disorders Working Group analysis has\u00a0identified\u00a0structural brain morphometric features linked to bulimia nervosa, revealing that reduced nucleus accumbens volume and reduced temporal cortical surface area distinguish affected individuals from healthy controls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A Poorly Understood Neurobiology\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bulimia nervosa ranks second among eating disorders in prevalence and disease burden, yet reliable brain morphometric features associated with the disorder have\u00a0remained\u00a0elusive. Progress has been limited by neuroimaging studies with inconsistent findings across small samples.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>MRI Analysis Across Seventeen Cohorts\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Researchers conducted a case-control study using three-dimensional T1-weighted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emjreviews.com\/radiology\/news\/high-resolution-mri-improves-brain-imaging-clarity\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MRI<\/a> and clinical data from thirteen international sites\u00a0comprising\u00a0seventeen cohorts within the ENIGMA Eating Disorders Working Group. Data were\u00a0analysed\u00a0between February 2022 and October 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The sample included 786 female participants: 369 with bulimia nervosa and 417 healthy controls, with a mean age of 23.6 years (range, 12.0 to 53.6). Regional cortical thickness, surface area, and subcortical volumes were extracted using\u00a0standardised\u00a0ENIGMA pipelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Reduced Nucleus Accumbens Volume and Temporal Cortex Differences\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Compared with controls, participants with bulimia nervosa had lower nucleus accumbens volume (Cohen d, -0.20; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.06), lower surface area of the superior temporal cortex (d, -0.26; 95% CI, -0.41 to -0.12), and lower surface area of the transverse temporal cortex (d, -0.24; 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.10). No significant group differences in cortical thickness were\u00a0observed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most differences remained significant after adjustment for\u00a0BMI, illness duration, depressive symptoms, psychotropic medication use, and purging\u00a0behaviour.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Binge-eating frequency was associated with lower surface area across several regions, including the superior temporal cortex, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex (r range, -0.20 to -0.14), while total compensatory\u00a0behaviours\u00a0showed no significant anatomical associations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Advancing Neurobiological Models\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These findings have\u00a0identified\u00a0localised\u00a0structural brain alterations, primarily in cortical surface area, that are associated with bulimia nervosa, offering some of the first reliable brain morphometric features for the disorder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The results implicate reward, cognitive control, interoceptive, and social cognition circuits in its pathophysiology, advancing neurobiological models of a condition whose brain basis has\u00a0remained\u00a0poorly\u00a0characterised. Further research is needed to clarify these features\u2019 causal role and diagnostic potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Reference\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Berner LA et al. Structural brain correlates\u00a0of\u00a0bulimia nervosa diagnosis and symptom severity: a coordinated ENIGMA eating disorders working group analysis. JAMA Psychiatry.\u00a02026;DOI:10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2026.2842\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Featured image:\u00a0UDOY\u00a0on Adobe Stock\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AN INTERNATIONAL ENIGMA Eating Disorders Working Group analysis has\u00a0identified\u00a0structural brain morphometric features linked to bulimia nervosa, revealing that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[134,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-614248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}