Evoked emotions in anorexia nervosa: neural and behavioural correlates of social-emotional processing
Leppänen, Jenni; Bailey, Olivia; Halls, Daniel; Allen, Karina; Tchanturia, Kate; Williams, Steve (2026-02-19)
Springer
19.02.2026
Leppanen, J., Bailey, O., Halls, D. et al. Evoked emotions in anorexia nervosa: neural and behavioural correlates of social-emotional processing. Transl Psychiatry 16, 128 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03819-8
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© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202602231921
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202602231921
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Previous work suggests people with anorexia nervosa (AN) display reduced facial expression of emotion. This may influence illness progression as blunted emotional reactions can negatively impact social relationships and increase isolation. The present study aimed to replicate and further build on previous findings by examining facial and brain responses to naturalistic, emotional films. In total, 141 women (71 AN/weight restored AN, 70 healthy comparison) completed two tasks in a fixed order: 1.) facial affect task and 2.) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task. In both tasks, participants reacted to positive, neutral, and negative films, and rated their mood after each one. The effects of group and film category on facial expressions, brain responses, and mood ratings were examined. The AN group displayed reduced positive facial affect over time and lower self-reported mood in response to positive but not negative or neutral films. The fMRI task revealed no significant group differences in response to positive, neutral, or negative films. However, there was widespread activation of occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal regions in response to the emotional films across groups. The behavioural findings replicate previously reported altered reactivity to positive films in AN. Additionally, task-related brain activation was observed in regions typically associated with the processing of naturalistic emotional stimuli, suggesting the task was valid. However, the lack of group differences during the fMRI task raises questions about whether the behavioural differences could be related to slower warming up to the task among those with AN.
Previous work suggests people with anorexia nervosa (AN) display reduced facial expression of emotion. This may influence illness progression as blunted emotional reactions can negatively impact social relationships and increase isolation. The present study aimed to replicate and further build on previous findings by examining facial and brain responses to naturalistic, emotional films. In total, 141 women (71 AN/weight restored AN, 70 healthy comparison) completed two tasks in a fixed order: 1.) facial affect task and 2.) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task. In both tasks, participants reacted to positive, neutral, and negative films, and rated their mood after each one. The effects of group and film category on facial expressions, brain responses, and mood ratings were examined. The AN group displayed reduced positive facial affect over time and lower self-reported mood in response to positive but not negative or neutral films. The fMRI task revealed no significant group differences in response to positive, neutral, or negative films. However, there was widespread activation of occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal regions in response to the emotional films across groups. The behavioural findings replicate previously reported altered reactivity to positive films in AN. Additionally, task-related brain activation was observed in regions typically associated with the processing of naturalistic emotional stimuli, suggesting the task was valid. However, the lack of group differences during the fMRI task raises questions about whether the behavioural differences could be related to slower warming up to the task among those with AN.
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