Food Restriction in Anorexia Nervosa in the Light of Modern Learning Theory: A Narrative Review
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
García Burgos, DavidEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Anorexia nervosa Associative learning Conditioning Eating disorders Food restriction Modern learning theory
Fecha
2023-01-23Referencia bibliográfica
Garcia-Burgos, D... [et al.]. Food Restriction in Anorexia Nervosa in the Light of Modern Learning Theory: A Narrative Review. Behav. Sci. 2023, 13, 96. [https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13020096]
Patrocinador
Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754446; UGR Research and Knowledge Transfer Fund—Athenea3iResumen
Improvements in the clinical management of anorexia nervosa (AN) are urgently needed.
To do so, the search for innovative approaches continues at laboratory and clinical levels to translate
new findings into more effective treatments. In this sense, modern learning theory provides a unifying
framework that connects concepts, methodologies and data from preclinical and clinical research to
inspire novel interventions in the field of psychopathology in general, and of disordered eating in
particular. Indeed, learning is thought to be a crucial factor in the development/regulation of normal
and pathological eating behaviour. Thus, the present review not only tries to provide a comprehensive
overview of modern learning research in the field of AN, but also follows a transdiagnostic perspective
to offer testable explanations for the origin and maintenance of pathological food rejection. This
narrative review was informed by a systematic search of research papers in the electronic databases
PsycInfo, Scopus andWeb of Science following PRISMA methodology. By considering the number
and type of associations (Pavlovian, goal-directed or habitual) and the affective nature of conditioning
processes (appetitive versus aversive), this approach can explain many features of AN, including
why some patients restrict food intake to the point of life-threatening starvation and others restrict
calorie intake to lose weight and binge on a regular basis. Nonetheless, it is striking how little impact
modern learning theory has had on the current AN research agenda and practice.