BRAIN MATTER ALTERATIONS DURING SIMULATED ANOREXIA NERVOSA AND FOLLOWING WEIGHT RECOVERY
Abstract
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that causes serious health consequences due to nutrient deprivation. Because of this, it has been associated with changes to brain morphology. Rat models can be useful to understand the physiological consequences of AN during both the disease and after weight recovery. PURPOSE: To use MRI analysis to determine the effect of simulated AN on brain matter volume during low weight status and following weight recovery. METHODS: A cohort of female Sprague Dawley rats, 8 weeks of age, underwent simulated AN for 30 days with 50-60% food restriction. A subset with simulated AN was euthanized, and their brains were imaged immediately afterward (AN, n=8). Another cohort was allowed ad libitum food consumption for an additional 30 days following AN, to allow for weight recovery (AN-R, n=6). AN and AN-R rats were compared to age-matched control rats (CON and CON-R respectively, n=6-8/group). After the images were processed, ImageJ was used to quantify total brain volume and gray matter volume. The data was compared by a T-test with the significance denoted at p
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Sadie; Wood, Katie; Rorke, Joshua; Rothacker, Emily; Murach, Kevin; Breithaupt, Lauren; Kaiser, Ursula B.; Malone, Zoe; and Rosa-Caldwell, Megan E.
(2025)
"BRAIN MATTER ALTERATIONS DURING SIMULATED ANOREXIA NERVOSA AND FOLLOWING WEIGHT RECOVERY,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 11:
Iss.
12, Article 38.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol11/iss12/38