Language：English   Publisher：Journal of Eating Disorders  

Background: Our previous research indicated that patients with self-reported onset of eating disorders (EDs) during Japan’s first state of emergency (declared April 7, 2020) for COVID-19 were significantly Eyounger at presentation and had a shorter illness duration, which potentially facilitated earlier clinical intervention. Since early consultation is often associated with better prognosis in anorexia nervosa (AN), we hypothesized that patients with AN development during the first state of emergency would exhibit more favorable outcomes. Methods: This age-adjusted comparative study included 36 female adolescent and young adult patients (aged 12–24 years) with restricting-type AN (AN-R) diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition criteria. Both inpatients and outpatients were included and categorized into three groups: those who visited the hospital before (Before group, n = 12) and after (After group, n = 12) the emergency declaration and those with self-reported symptom onset during the first state of emergency (During group, n = 12). Patients were evaluated at their initial visit (T0) and 3 (T1), 6 (T2), and 12 months (T3) thereafter using the Global Clinical Score (GCS) and percent standard weight as outcome measures. Psychological characteristics at T0 were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). Results: The During group demonstrated significantly earlier improvement compared to the other two groups. Specifically, GCS scores at T1 were significantly lower in the During group (Before vs. During: 11 vs. 9, p = 0.006; After vs. During: 11 vs. 9, p = 0.0030), indicating a large effect. Percent standard body weight at T2 was significantly higher in the During group than in the After group (After vs. During: 73 vs. 83.5, p = 0.01), exhibiting a large effect. EDI and PBI scores were comparable among groups. Conclusion: Patients whose patient-reported AN-R symptom onset occurred during the first state of emergency showed a faster recovery trajectory than did those who presented before or after the emergency, consistent with our hypothesis. Increased time spent at home with family during the “stay-at-home” period may have contributed to earlier medical consultation and subsequent recovery, although this interpretation remains speculative. These findings highlight the importance of early intervention in AN treatment.

DOI： 10.1186/s40337-026-01619-5

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science  

Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) has not yet been treated biologically. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging has been used to identify neurological substrates for its development; however, this remains elusive owing to sample size restrictions. In this study, we aimed to understand the relationship between intrinsic networks and AN psychopathology based on the triple-network hypothesis using a large sample of data from multiple facilities. Methods We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected across multiple sites from 111 female patients with AN and 131 healthy female control participants. Independent component analysis was applied to identify the default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN), and to assess functional connectivity (FC) within each network and between these networks. Results The analysis revealed that patients with AN exhibited significantly reduced FC within both the SN and DMN compared with healthy control participants. Notably, decreased FC within the SN was correlated with the severity of eating disorder symptoms. Additionally, the analysis showed decreased connectivity between the SN and CEN. Conclusions Within the framework of the triple-network model, our findings emphasize SN dysfunction as a central feature of AN psychopathology, accompanied by impaired coupling between the SN and CEN as well as reduced connectivity within the DMN. These findings highlight the critical role of disruptions in large-scale brain networks, particularly within the SN, which may underlie deficits in adaptive cognitive control among individuals with AN.

DOI： 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2026.100699

Web of Science

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publisher：Scientific Reports  

Although changes in insular function have been thought to play a central role in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN), due to factors such as insufficient sample size, there have been no studies examining changes in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between insula and whole brain in AN, based on functional localization of insula. Here, we subdivided insula into 6 regions per side based on functional localization and reanalyzed previously published functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 114 female patients with AN and 135 female healthy controls (HC). We calculated the rsFCs between ROIs and compared the results between groups, with the 12 insular regions serving as seed ROIs and 142 regions of the whole brain as target ROIs. Compared to HC, AN patients had a increased rsFC between dorsal anterior insula (daIC) and amygdala, and a decreased rsFC between posterior division of dorsal middle insula (pdmIC) and opercular cortex (false discovery rate [FDR] corrected p-value < 0.05 with analysis-level correction, which means that FDR correction was applied to all seed ROIs and all target ROI combinations). These rsFC changes may be the neurological basis for AN symptoms, such as hypersensitivity to negative stimuli, taste disorder, and enhanced taste aversion learning.

DOI： 10.1038/s41598-025-03641-0

Web of Science

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publisher：Neuroimage Clinical  

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe eating disorder characterized by intense fear of weight gain, distorted body image, and extreme food restriction. This research employed advanced diffusion MRI techniques including single-shell 3-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution, anatomically constrained tractography, and spherical deconvolution informed filtering of tractograms to analyze brain network alterations in AN. Diffusion MRI data from 81 AN patients and 98 healthy controls were obtained. The structural brain connectome was constructed based on nodes set in 84 brain regions, and graph theory analysis was conducted. Results showed that AN patients exhibited significantly higher clustering coefficient and local efficiency in several brain regions, including the left fusiform gyrus, bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, right entorhinal cortex, right lateral occipital gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right insula. A trend towards higher global efficiency and small-worldness was also observed in AN patients, although not statistically significant. These findings suggest increased local connectivity and efficiency within regions associated with behavioral rigidity, emotional regulation, and disturbed body image among AN patients. This study contributes to the understanding of the neurological basis of AN by highlighting structural connectivity alterations in specific brain regions.

DOI： 10.1016/j.nicl.2025.103737

Web of Science

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： doi: 10.1017/S0033291724000485.

Event date： 2025.12

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：東京  

Event date： 2025.9

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Yogyakarta   Country：Indonesia  

Event date： 2025.6

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Hirosaki   Country：Japan  

Event date： 2024.6

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Tokyo   Country：Japan  

Event date： 2024.2

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

Venue：宇都宮   Country：Japan  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal)  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal)  

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal)  

Type：Peer review 

Number of peer-reviewed articles in foreign language journals：2

Number of peer-reviewed articles in Japanese journals：0

Proceedings of International Conference Number of peer-reviewed papers：0

Proceedings of domestic conference Number of peer-reviewed papers：0

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Audience：General,　Scientific,　Company,　Civic organization,　Governmental agency

Type：Seminar, workshop

Audience：General,　Scientific,　Company,　Civic organization,　Governmental agency

Type：Seminar, workshop