Teenagers with Bigger Brains Are at More Risks for Anorexia Nervosa

Teenagers with larger brains are more susceptible to risks for anorexia nervosa, according to a study released Thursday.

The study,  which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, recruited 19 adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa and 22 in a controlled group and used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain volumes.

The research claims that girls suffering from anorexia nervosa had a larger insula, a part of the brain that is active when food is tasted, and a larger orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain that tells a person when to stop eating.

The research led by Guido Frank, MD assistant professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine reported that the bigger brain may be the reason people with anorexia are able to starve themselves.

"While eating disorders are often triggered by the environment, there are most likely biological mechanisms that have come together for an individual to develop an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa," said Frank.

Further results proved that individuals with anorexia nervosa showed greater left orbitofrontal right insular, and bilateral temporal cortex gray matter compared to the control group.