PSYC251 Week 6: Eating Disorders

Vocabulary flashcards covering eating behavior concepts, appetite regulation, undereating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, ARFID), overeating disorders (Bulimia Nervosa, BED), diagnostic criteria, biological models, psychopathology, and treatments.

Appetite

The psychological and physiological desire and motivation to seek out and consume food.

Hunger

A physiological signal promoting food intake to satisfy energy balance needs, characterized by gradual onset, stomach pangs, salivation, and food seeking.

Satiety

A physiological signal to stop food intake because energy balance needs have been met, characterized by feeling full and repulsion at the sight or thought of food.

Hedonic Cues

Sensory influences that stimulate appetite in the absence of hunger due to dopaminergic mechanisms, causing highly palatable foods to trigger eating even when satiety is active.

Food Intake

The physical consumption of food and the measurable quantity of food consumed.

Commensality

A sociocultural function of food intake that facilitates group bonding, ritual participation, and social cohesion.

Set-Point Theory of Hunger and Body Weight

A theory proposing that the body uses regulatory mechanisms to maintain body weight within its natural, predisposed range by adjusting metabolic rate based on energy expenditure and intake.

Positive Incentive Theory

A theory asserting that eating is driven by the anticipatory or reward value of food, leading to repeated dopamine release and food consumption in the absence of physical hunger.

Affect Regulation Theory

A theory stating that food intake provides emotional or stress relief by dampening HPA axis activation and reducing cortisol through the consumption of highly palatable foods high in sugars and fats.

Arcuate Nucleus (AN)

A region of the hypothalamus that integrates endocrine and metabolic signals from the central and peripheral nervous systems to inform current hunger and satiety status.

Paraventricular Hypothalamus (PVN)

A hypothalamic structure responsible for the inhibitory control of food intake and increasing energy expenditure.

Lateral Hypothalamus (LHA)

A hypothalamic region involved in reward-related or motivated food intake that responds to highly palatable stimuli.

Ventromedial Nucleus (VMN)

A hypothalamic area known as the satiety centre, responsible for generating sensations of fullness.

Hypothalamic Nuclei in Appetite Regulation

An anatomical layout showing the hypothalamic nuclei (DHA, PVN, PFA, DMN, VMN, LHA, AN) involved in integrating metabolic, satiety, and reward signals for appetite control.

Ghrelin

An orexigenic (appetite-stimulating) hormone produced by the stomach, triggered by fasting, low circulating nutrients, and pre-prandial surges.

Leptin

An anorexigenic (appetite-suppressing) hormone produced by adipose tissue, released in proportion to total body fat mass and acute energy availability.

Insulin

An anorexigenic hormone produced by pancreatic beta cells in response to post-prandial rises in blood glucose and amino acids.

GLP-1

An anorexigenic hormone produced by intestinal L-cells triggered by nutrient entry (carbohydrates and fats) into the intestine.

Orexigenic

A term describing chemical signals or hormones that stimulate appetite.

Anorexigenic

A term describing chemical signals or hormones that suppress appetite.

Mesolimbic Dopamine System (Brain Regions)

Neural circuitry including the VTA, NAc, SN, DS, Insula, OFC, Amygdala, and LH that regulates motivation, reward, salience, habit formation, and incentive to consume food.

Emotional Eating

A disordered eating behaviour involving increased food intake in response to distress or negative emotional states.

Restrained Eating

A disordered eating behaviour involving deliberate restriction of food intake to prevent weight gain or encourage weight loss, often followed by compensatory behaviors.

External Eating

A disordered eating behaviour characterized by increased food intake in response to external sensory food cues, such as sight or smell.

Undereating

A condition occurring when energy intake is consistently insufficient to meet basic metabolic requirements and physical activity demands.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN)

A feeding and eating disorder characterized by restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and disturbed perception of body weight or shape.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

A feeding and eating disorder characterized by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional or energy needs due to sensory characteristics, low interest in eating, or fear of aversive consequences, without body shape/weight distortion.

Restricting Type Anorexia Nervosa

A diagnostic specifier for Anorexia Nervosa in which weight loss over the last 3 months is accomplished primarily through dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise without recurrent bingeing or purging.

Binge-Eating/Purging Type Anorexia Nervosa

A diagnostic specifier for Anorexia Nervosa in which the individual has engaged in recurrent episodes of binge eating or purging behaviour over the last 3 months.

Sensory Sensitivity Specifier (ARFID)

An ARFID specifier characterized by food avoidance based on specific textures, tastes, smells, colours, or temperatures.

Lack of Interest Specifier (ARFID)

An ARFID specifier characterized by an apparent lack of a biological drive to eat or persistently low appetite.

Fear of Aversive Consequences Specifier (ARFID)

An ARFID specifier characterized by intense anxiety or food avoidance tied to a feared negative outcome, such as choking, vomiting, or gastrointestinal distress.

Physical Signs and Effects of Anorexia Nervosa

Multi-system physical consequences of AN, including brain preoccupation/headaches, hair loss/lanugo/brittle nails, bradycardia/low BP, amenorrhea/infertility, osteopenia/osteoporosis, dehydration, and constipation/bloating.

Physical Signs and Effects of ARFID

Systemic effects of ARFID, including sensory/fear-based brain anxiety, dry skin/lanugo, poor circulation/low BP, missing periods, delayed growth/osteopenia, kidney impairment, and intestinal distress.

Cognitive Behavioural Model of Anorexia (Fairburn)

Model positing that AN is maintained by an over-evaluation of shape, weight, and eating control, driving dietary restraint, hypervigilant body monitoring, and body avoidance.

Temperament Profile of Anorexia Nervosa (Cloninger)

Temperamental profile characterized by high Harm Avoidance, high Persistence, low Novelty Seeking, and low Self-Directedness.

Dopaminergic Model of Anorexia Nervosa

Model proposing that food restriction and weight loss alter D2 and D3 receptor activity in the ventral striatum, leading to starvation and weight loss being processed as rewarding.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E)

A 40-week psychological treatment structured into 4 stages (Starting Well, Taking Stock, Core Treatment, Ending Well) designed to address mechanisms maintaining eating disorders.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR)

A 20-30 session intervention covering psychoeducation, treatment planning, specifier-tailored core modules (sensory exposure, interoceptive training, or in-vivo feared food exposure), and relapse prevention.

Family-Based Treatment / Maudsley Approach

A 3-stage, 20-session family therapy for adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa where parents take control of refeeding before gradually restoring eating autonomy to the adolescent.

White Disease Stereotype

The pervasive stereotype that Anorexia Nervosa only affects wealthy young white females, leading to diagnostic delays in diverse cultural and demographic groups.

Overeating

A condition occurring when energy intake exceeds standard physiological requirements and energy expenditure during a given period.

Bulimia Nervosa (BN)

A feeding and eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating episodes followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviours to prevent weight gain, along with over-evaluation of shape and weight.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

A feeding and eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating episodes causing marked distress, without the use of inappropriate compensatory behaviours.

Inappropriate Compensatory Behaviours

Actions taken to prevent weight gain after binge eating, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives/diuretics/enemas, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Physical Signs and Effects of Bulimia Nervosa

Physical consequences of BN including brain preoccupation, dental enamel erosion, swollen jaw, electrolyte imbalances causing muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, kidney impairment, and oesophageal tears.

Physical Signs and Effects of Binge Eating Disorder

Physical consequences of BED including low self-esteem, facial acne, muscle fatigue, fluctuating weight or weight gain, irregular periods, and digestive complications like acid reflux and ulcers.

Escape Theory Model of Binge Eating

Model asserting that binge eating serves as a cognitive avoidance strategy where perfectionist standards and aversive self-awareness cause negative affect, prompting cognitive narrowing to physical food stimuli.

Cognitive Behavioural Model of Bulimia (Fairburn)

Model proposing that strict dietary rules leave no room for minor deviations, triggering all-or-nothing thinking, loss of control binge eating, and compensatory purging to relieve weight anxiety.

Dual-Pathway Model (Stice)

Model positing that bulimic pathology is driven by body dissatisfaction that split into two maintaining pathways: the Dietary Restraint Pathway and the Negative Affect Pathway.

Temperament Profile of Bulimia Nervosa (Cloninger)

Temperamental profile characterized by high Harm Avoidance, high Novelty Seeking, and low Self-Directedness.

Dopaminergic Model of Overeating

Model proposing that high-calorie diets alter mesolimbic circuits, causing elevated dopamine in anticipation of food but reduced dopamine sensitivity during consumption, driving increased food intake.

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) for Eating Disorders

A 20-week therapy focused on emotion regulation and distress tolerance (utilizing Behavior Chain Analysis, mindfulness/urge surfing, and TIPP skills) to eliminate the functional drive to binge or purge.

TIPP Skills

Distress tolerance skills in DBT used to downregulate acute arousal, standing for Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing, and Paired Muscle Relaxation.

Internalised Weight Bias

Self-directed stigma resulting from absorbing negative societal stereotypes about larger bodies, which serves as a chronic psychological stressor reinforcing binge eating and social withdrawal.