It is obvious that the brain must be involved in the core features of eating disorders – in behavioural features such as restricted food intake, bingeing or purging; in cognitive features such as overvalued ideas about weight and shape; and in emotional features such as extreme anxiety or fear of weight gain. However, recent neuroscience research suggests that neurobiological mechanisms may also play a more fundamental role in the aetiology and maintenance of eating disorders. In this chapter we consider the role of the brain; other components of aetiology are considered in Chapter 5 .