ABSTRACT
Neuroimaging techniques have allowed researchers to explore revealing global and regional changes in brain structure as well as brain function, including neurotransmitter systems, glucose metabolism, cerebral blood flow and connectivity of neural networks. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most widely used techniques to examine the brain in vivo and has become a mainstay in psychiatric research. Using MRI, researchers have been able to improve upon our knowledge of the size and shape of the brain in anorexia nervosa (AN) as well as identify which regions present aberrant activity as compared to the general population. Perhaps one of the earliest findings in anorexia nervosa using neuroimaging has been the enlargement of cortical sulci, which indicates shrinkage or atrophy of the brain. Originally found using computerized tomography (CT), brain atrophy in ill patients has remained a consistent finding, replicated using more suitable and modern techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging.
