Anorexia shrinks the brain more than any other mental health condition

Anorexia shrinks the brain more than any other mental health condition, including depression, a major study has shown.

Neuroscientists at the University of Bath said the findings were a “wake-up call” to intervene sooner in the eating condition and prevent further damage.

Researchers looked at brain scans of 2,000 people with anorexia and found reductions in brain volume ranging from between one and five per cent.

The scans showed “sizeable reductions” in cortical thickness, subcortical volumes and cortical surface area, which was between two and four times larger than people with conditions such as depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder.

Researchers believe the changes in brain size might be attributed to reductions in Body Mass Index, rather than neural shrinkage driving the condition.

Road to recovery 

However, people on the road to recovery from anorexia showed 30-to-50 per cent less shrinkage, suggesting that the brain can repair itself, the study showed.

Lead researcher, Dr Esther Walton of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, said: “We found that the large reductions in brain structure, which we observed in patients, were less noticeable in patients already on the path to recovery.

“This is a good sign, because it indicates that these changes might not be permanent. With the right treatment, the brain might be able to bounce back.”

Anorexia – which is a severe eating disorder and mental-health condition – affects over a quarter of a million people aged 16 and over in Britain.

Symptoms are characterised by people trying to keep their weight as low as possible by not eating enough.

A worldwide study

For the new research, Bath scientists worked alongside 21 centres worldwide to pool brain scans, including the Enigma Eating Disorders Working Group, run out of the University of Southern California.

Paul Thompson, professor of neurology and lead scientist for the Enigma Consortium, said: “The brain changes in anorexia were more severe than in any other psychiatric condition we have studied.

“This really is a wake-up call, showing the need for early interventions for people with eating disorders.

“Effects of treatments and interventions can now be evaluated, using these new brain maps as a reference.”

The research was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.