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The Embodied Cognition: Exploratory Study of Automatic and Controlled Processes in Anorexia Nervosa.

The Embodied Cognition: Exploratory Study of Automatic and Controlled Processes in Anorexia Nervosa. A Monocentric Study

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02538796
Enrollment
176
Registered
2015-09-02
Start date
2011-05-31
Completion date
2016-01-31
Last updated
2016-03-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

Keywords

Anorexia Nervosa, Cognition, Conscious, Non-Conscious

Brief summary

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a common psychiatric illness, with severe prognosis (5% mortality) that has changed little over in half a century. One of the forms is the restrictive anorexia nervosa (ANR). It consists of a phobia of weight gain and food with a massive food restriction. This pathology is studied in psychology but not using the theories of embodied cognition in which perception and action interact through sensorimotor processes. They are the source of attitudes (unconscious) towards certain stimuli and influence our interpretation (conscious).

Detailed description

The investigators hypothesis is that food restriction behavior is the result of two processes. One automatic and not conscious, which is an attraction toward food and manifests itself in the motivational attitudes of approach, and the other controlled and conscious, which prevents attraction to this type of stimuli and is manifested by motivational attitudes avoidance. These processes of attraction and avoidance are observed in embodied cognition paradigms because the answers induce movement of approach or avoidance of stimuli. The validation of these assumptions could lead to reconsideration of the respective roles of automatic and controlled processes in food behaviors of anorexics patients and to complete or refocus psychological techniques of care.

Interventions

OTHERTEA + Grober Test + Task 1 + Grober Test

The Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) measures the reaction time of the participant during the occurrence of an expected stimulus. The Grober Test with 16 words to learn and to remember, measures the episodic verbal memory long term. The Task 1 consists of a stimulus that moves on the screen. The response of the patient is done on the keyboard. It is composed on two conditions: one is fast (without conscious), the other consists in assessing words (conscious). It includes food and non-food words.

OTHERTEA + Grober Test + Task 2 + Grober Test

The TEA measures the reaction time of the participant during the occurrence of an expected stimulus. The Grober Test with 16 words to learn and to remember, measures the episodic verbal memory long term. The Task 2 consists of a stimulus that is fixed on the screen. The response of the patient is done by pushing or pulling a lever. It is composed on two conditions: one is fast (without conscious), the other consists in assessing words (conscious). It includes food and non-food words.

OTHERTEA + Grober Test + Implicit Task 3 + Grober Test

The TEA measures the reaction time of the participant during the occurrence of an expected stimulus. The Grober Test with 16 words to learn and to remember, measures the episodic verbal memory long term. The Task 3 is a compilation of tasks 1 and 2 to investigate the bidirectional link. The instructions are implicit condition to detect an A in the word (yes-no answer).

OTHERTEA + Grober Test + Explicit Task 3 + Grober Test

The TEA measures the reaction time of the participant during the occurrence of an expected stimulus. The Grober Test with 16 words to learn and to remember, measures the episodic verbal memory long term. The Task 3 is a compilation of tasks 1 and 2 to investigate the bidirectional link. The instructions are explicit condition to judge the emotional value of words (positive-negative answer).

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 36 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

for patients: * Restrictive anorexia nervosa according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Text Revision (DSM IV-TR) * BMI\> 16 to avoid the effects of undernutrition * Start disorders \<10 years * Right handed * Having given free and informed consent prior to study participation * Subject affiliated to the French National Health Insurance Inclusion Criteria for control group: * BMI between 18,5 and 25 * Right handed * Of school level paired in that of the patients (+/-1 the year) * Having given free and informed consent prior to study participation * Subject affiliated to the French National Health Insurance

Exclusion criteria

for patients and control group: * Patients with at the beginning or during the study form of purgative anorexia nervosa * Control with disorders of current or past eating behavior. * Control making a restrictive diet during the study period * Participants with depressive table * Participants with a somatic problem restricted movement or a problem of uncorrected visual acuity annoying reading of the screen.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Response time (ms) in the different conditions of the three tasks (composite measure)Day 1Tasks are: * tap a key on the computer keyboard during the presentation of food and non-food words containing an A on a computer screen * pull a lever towards you at the presentation of food and non-food words on a computer screen * pull a lever towards you at the presentation of food and non-food words that approach on a computer screen

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
BMI in kg/m²Day 1The Body Mass Index (BMI) is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height.
Rate of wrong answersDay 1It is the rate of wrong answers in the different conditions of the three tasks.
Score EDI-2Day 1The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) is a self-report questionnaire used to assess the presence of eating disorders.
Silhouettes test scoreDay 1The patient selects among several silhouettes a silhouette to represent her real body image and her ideal body image.

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026