AUTHOR=Gorwood Philip , Blanchet-Collet Corinne , Chartrel Nicolas , Duclos Jeanne , Dechelotte Pierre , Hanachi Mouna , Fetissov Serguei , Godart Nathalie , Melchior Jean-Claude , Ramoz Nicolas , Rovere-Jovene Carole , Tolle Virginie , Viltart Odile , Epelbaum Jacques TITLE=New Insights in Anorexia Nervosa JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience VOLUME=10 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2016.00256 DOI=10.3389/fnins.2016.00256 ISSN=1662-453X ABSTRACT=

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is classically defined as a condition in which an abnormally low body weight is associated with an intense fear of gaining weight and distorted cognitions regarding weight, shape, and drive for thinness. This article reviews recent evidences from physiology, genetics, epigenetics, and brain imaging which allow to consider AN as an abnormality of reward pathways or an attempt to preserve mental homeostasis. Special emphasis is put on ghrelino-resistance and the importance of orexigenic peptides of the lateral hypothalamus, the gut microbiota and a dysimmune disorder of neuropeptide signaling. Physiological processes, secondary to underlying, and premorbid vulnerability factors—the “pondero-nutritional-feeding basements”- are also discussed.