New study shows that anorexia can lead to dramatic changes in the structure of the brain

A study by a group of international scientists and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry shows that anorexia can be very damaging to the brain.

Scientists scanned the brains of 1,648 women (685 of them were anorexic) and found that eating disorders lead to a decrease in the area of the cerebral cortex. In other words, the brain simply “shrinks”.

For this study, we have been working intensively with research groups around the world for several years, says psychologist Esther Walton from the University of Bath in the UK.

The researchers say the reduction in brain size and shape shown in this study is two to four times greater than the reduction caused by other psychological illnesses such as depression, ADHD and OCD.

However, this study also offers hope, as scans have shown that treatment for anorexia, which usually includes cognitive behavioral therapy, can reverse some of the changes in the brain.

At the moment, it is clear that the sooner treatment is given, the sooner the process of changes in the brain can be prevented.