A group of researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) from King’s College London (United Kingdom) has found that high levels of eating disorders in young people are closely related to differences in brain development.
In depth
“Our findings reveal how late brain maturation during adolescence links Genetics, mental health issues, and disordered eating behaviors in young adulthood, emphasizing the critical role of brain development in the formation of eating habits,” said Xinyang Yua PhD student at King’s IoPPN and first author of the study.
The essay, published in the magazine ‘Natura Mental Health‘, shows how the process of brain maturationin which the volume and thickness of the cerebral cortex decrease during adolescence, a factor that is decisive in whether adolescents develop restrictive or uncontrolled emotional eating behaviors in early adulthood.
Scientists have analyzed data from 996 adolescents in England, Ireland, France and Germany, who ended up being classified as healthy eaters (42 percent), restrictive eaters (33 percent) and emotional or uncontrolled eaters (25 percent). Restrictive behaviors, such as dieting, involve deliberately limiting food intake to control body weight and shape. Emotional or uncontrolled eating behaviorslike binge eating, are characterized by episodes of eating in response to negative emotions or compulsive impulses.
More details
Once classified, they discovered that young people with unhealthy eating behaviors had higher levels of problems at age 23. internalizing (anxiety or depression) and outsourcing (hyperactivity, inattention or behavioral problems) at age 14, compared to those who eat healthy.
Furthermore, internalizing problems increased significantly with age between 14 and 23 among unhealthy eaters and, although externalizing problems decreased with age in all groups, overall levels were higher among those with emotional or uncontrolled eating.
Those who eat restrictively dieted more during adolescence compared to those who eat healthily; and those who eat emotional or uncontrolled way They increased their diet among 14 and 16 years oldand binge eating between ages 14 and 19, compared to those who eat healthy way.
Following an analysis of magnetic resonance imaging data, researchers have concluded that Brain maturation is delayed and less pronounced in those who did not have a healthy dietestablishing a link between mental health problems at age 14 and the development of unhealthy eating behaviors at 23 years.
Reduced brain maturation has also helped explain how the genetic risk of a Body Mass Index (BMI) high influences unhealthy eating behaviors at age 23. Specifically, reduced maturation of the cerebellum (a brain region that controls appetite) helped explain the link between genetic risk for high BMI and restrictive eating behaviors. 23 years.
To take into account
“To the demonstrate that different unhealthy eating behaviors are linked to differential trajectories of symptoms of mental health and brain developmentour findings can inform the design of more personalized interventions,” said Dr. Zuo Zhangresearcher at King’s IoPPN and co-author of the study.
For his part, professor of biological psychiatry at King’s IoPPN and lead author of the study, Sylvane Desriviereshas expressed that these findings highlight the potential benefits of a better education aimed at addressing unhealthy eating habits, as well as focused on providing strategies of maladaptive coping.
“This could play a crucial role in preventing eating disorders and supporting overall brain health,” he added. Desrivieres.
It should be noted that this research has received financing from the Medical Research Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Maudsley Biomedical Research Center of the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
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