ABSTRACT
The limbic system registers the state of the body and directly influences the body's state of activation via regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Louise Nunn, 2008 have suggested that the clinical symptoms of anorexia nervosa may be explained by the dysfunction of the insula, which has been described by Antonio Damasio, 1994 as mapping the emotional state of the body. Internal Language Enhancement (ILE) is based on neurological understanding and borrows techniques from both psychoanalysis and cognitive behavioral therapy with some input from the field of linguistics. The ILE approach follows Daniel Goleman's description of the two pathways available for emotional processing: one where the information from the amygdala has been perused by the symbolic functions and one where it has not. Thus, what the ILE method aims to do is to systematically work back with the patient to discover the trigger thought just prior to the collapse into the concrete state.
