Imaging Techniques in Eating Disorders

There is currently clear, and in many areas sufficiently replicated, evidence of disturbed brain function in eating disorders. It is important to emphasize that these changes in brain function are primarily found in frontal, temporal, cingulate, and parietal regions in the disordered state, but often persist after remission of the disorder. This raises the question of whether the changes found in the remitted state represent a kind of “scar” caused by chronic malnutrition or other factors in the disordered state. This cannot be ruled out with certainty, and such questions cannot be adequately answered by cross-sectional studies. Imaging techniques for visualizing brain function in eating disorders allow for the expansion of knowledge about possible underlying pathophysiological relationships.