Social Cognition and Executive Function Impairment in Young Women with Anorexia Nervosa

Zegarra-Valdivia, Jonathan; Vilca, Brenda Nadia Chino · 2018 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.5093/clysa2018a16

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the neurocognitive profiles of young women with anorexia nervosa (AN), specifically focusing on impairments in social cognition and executive function. The research was motivated by the complex nature of AN and its association with autistic traits, suggesting that deficits in top-down processes regulating social interaction and adaptive behavior may serve as endophenotypes for the disorder. The authors aimed to assess the contribution of these cognitive domains to socio-emotional patterns in AN and to explore relationships between social cognition, executive function, and clinical features. The study employed a comparative design involving 15 adolescents diagnosed with AN (mean illness duration of 3 years) and 15 healthy controls. Participants were assessed using standardized neuropsychological tests administered in two sessions. Social cognition was evaluated using the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test to measure theory of mind and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess decision-making. Executive function was measured using verbal fluency tasks (semantic and phonological), the Trail Making Test, and the Digit Span Test (direct and inverse) from the WAIS-III. Statistical analyses included Mann-Whitney U-tests for group comparisons and Spearman correlations to examine relationships between variables and clinical characteristics. The results revealed significant cognitive deficits in the AN group compared to healthy controls. In social cognition, patients showed impaired theory of mind, specifically in recognizing intentions, thoughts, and emotions through gaze, although sex recognition remained intact. Decision-making was also impaired; AN patients exhibited poorer performance in the IGT, particularly in later stages, indicating a failure to adapt to feedback and a tendency toward impulsive, risky choices. Regarding executive function, the AN group displayed significant deficits in working memory (both direct and inverse digit span) and lexical access (semantic and phonological verbal fluency). Correlational analysis indicated that longer illness duration was negatively associated with performance in theory of mind, decision-making, and executive function tasks. Additionally, moderate correlations were found between theory of mind and executive function measures, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms involving working memory and attention networks. The study concludes that young women with AN exhibit significant impairments in theory of mind, decision-making, and executive function. These deficits are linked to the maintenance of pathological patterns in the disorder and may reflect hypoactivation in social-cognitive and prefrontal brain networks. The authors propose that these neurocognitive profiles constitute important endophenotypes for AN, which could inform future research into the genetic and neurobiological architecture of the disorder and guide targeted clinical interventions. The findings support the view that AN involves specific disruptions in socio-emotional monitoring and cognitive control, distinct from general perceptual deficits.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• cognitive impairment