Associations between neuropsychological performance and appetite-regulating hormones in anorexia nervosa and healthy controls: Ghrelin's putative role as a mediator of decision-making

Paslakis, Georgios; Tinahones Madueño, Francisco José; Fitó Colomer, Montserrat; Fernández Aranda, Fernando

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2019.04.021

Associations between neuropsychological performance and appetite-regulating hormones in anorexia nervosa and healthy controls: Ghrelin's putative role as a mediator of decision-making

Citation

Paslakis G, Agüera Z, Granero R, Sánchez I, Riesco N, Jiménez-Murcia S et al. Associations between neuropsychological performance and appetite-regulating hormones in anorexia nervosa and healthy controls: Ghrelin's putative role as a mediator of decision-making. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2019 Nov 1;497:110441. DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2019.04.021

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe eating disorder accompanied by alterations in endocrinological circuits and deficits in neuropsychological performance. In this study, a series of appetite-regulating hormones (ghrelin, leptin, cholecystokinin, PYY, adiponectin, and visfatin) were measured under fasting conditions in female patients with AN and female healthy controls. All of the participants also underwent a battery of neuropsychological assessment [namely the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT)]. As the main finding, we found that higher ghrelin levels predict better performance in the IGT. Ghrelin may be a putative mediator of decision-making, a finding that has not been described so far. The role of ghrelin in decision-making can only be described as speculative, as there are hardly any additional evidence-based data published up to date. Further studies are warranted.