Basal activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cognitive function in anorexia nervosa

Seed, Julie, Dixon, Rebecca, McCluskey, Sarah and Young, Allan (2000) Basal activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cognitive function in anorexia nervosa. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 250 (1). pp. 11-15. ISSN 0940-1334

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Abstract

Anorexia nervosa is associated with abnormalities in neuroendocrine function including sustained hypercortisolism, which has been shown elsewhere to be associated with impairment of function in learning, memory and attention. Cognitive impairment has also been observed in anorexia nervosa. These effects may be mediated in part through cortisol effects on the hippocampus, which is dense with glucocorticoid receptors. We investigated the association between cortisol levels and cognitive function in anorexia nervosa by measuring both 24-hour urinary cortisol counts and performance on tasks of learning, memory and attention in patients suffering from the disorder. Cortisol secretion was shown to be significantly higher in the patient group than in a matched control group and patients were also shown to be impaired in memory and attention. However, no correlations were found between the cognitive deficits and cortisol measures. It is suggested that more sensitive profiling of cortisol levels throughout the circadian cycle may be useful in future studies of cognitive function in anorexia nervosa.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Anorexia nervosa; Cognition; Cortisol; Neuroendocrine
Subjects:	B900 Others in Subjects allied to Medicine C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	13 Feb 2015 11:49
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 16:27
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/19195

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