Study: Anorexics taste food differently

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Women with anorexia have distinct differences in the insulta -- the specific part of the brain important for recognizing taste, U.S. researchers found.

Dr. Angela Wagner of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Dr. Walter H. Kaye of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, San Diego Schools of Medicine measured the brain activity of 32 women using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The research team looked at images of the brains of 16 women who had recovered from anorexia nervosa and 16 control subjects. They measured their brains’ reactions to a pleasant taste -- sucrose -- and a neutral taste -- distilled water.

The study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, found that in the response to both the sucrose and water, imaging results showed that women who had recovered from anorexia had significantly reduced response in the insula and related brain regions when compared to the control group.

Kaye said it is possible that individuals with anorexia may find food aversive, rather than rewarding and this could be why they avoid normally "pleasurable" foods, fail to appropriately respond to hunger and are able to lose so much weight.