Fear Network Unresponsiveness in Women with Anorexia Nervosa.

Merely looking at food images can already elicit psychophysiological fear and avoidance responses [[1]], which are reflected in an activation of the so-called fear network (FN) [[2]]. The dorsal ACC (dACC) and its transition into the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) are involved in conscious emotional appraisal [[6]] and may play a pivotal role in the reported negative appraisal of food stimuli in AN [[7]]. A hyperreactive dACC/dmPFC and other areas of the FN are observable in generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias [[6]]. We hypothesize that pathological fear/threat appraisal in AN results in a hyperresponsive FN [[9]]. [Extracted from the article]