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Attentional bias to food during free and instructed viewing in anorexia nervosa : an eye tracking study

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Abstract
Previous research has shown that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) show an attentional bias to food. How-ever, due to different conceptualizations of attentional bias and the use of various paradigms, results are inconclusive and more precise insights into the exact nature of this attentional bias are needed. Therefore, an eye-tracking paradigm with food (low and high caloric) and non-food (objects) pictures was used to investigate biases in AN patients (n = 25) compared to healthy controls (n = 22). Several indices of visual attention were examined, both during free (initial orientation, fixation frequency, fixation time) and explicitly instructed (engagement, disengagement) viewing. Our results during the free viewing phase indicated that AN patients (as compared to healthy matched controls) looked less frequently and spent less time fixating on food stimuli, compared to the comparison group. No differences between both groups (n = 47) in initial orientation could be observed. Interestingly, during the instructed viewing phase, no differences between the patient and the com-parison group were observed in engagement or disengagement to food stimuli. These results suggest an (initial) attentional avoidance of food in AN patients when closely investigating spontaneous attentional processes, while this could not be observed during gaze behaviour when receiving clear instructions. Hence, future research should look into how attentional bias during spontaneous gaze patterns could serve as a potential marker of AN, and how targeting this bias could be applied in treatment interventions.
Keywords
Biological Psychiatry, Psychiatry and Mental health, Food, Attentional bias, Eye tracking, Anorexia nervosa

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MLA
Puttevils, Louise, et al. “Attentional Bias to Food during Free and Instructed Viewing in Anorexia Nervosa : An Eye Tracking Study.” JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, vol. 164, 2023, pp. 468–76, doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.039.
APA
Puttevils, L., De Bruecker, M., Allaert, J., Sanchez-Lopez, A., De Schryver, N., Vervaet, M., … Vanderhasselt, M.-A. (2023). Attentional bias to food during free and instructed viewing in anorexia nervosa : an eye tracking study. JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, 164, 468–476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.039
Chicago author-date
Puttevils, Louise, Marie De Bruecker, Jens Allaert, Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, Nele De Schryver, Myriam Vervaet, Chris Baeken, and Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt. 2023. “Attentional Bias to Food during Free and Instructed Viewing in Anorexia Nervosa : An Eye Tracking Study.” JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH 164: 468–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.039.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Puttevils, Louise, Marie De Bruecker, Jens Allaert, Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, Nele De Schryver, Myriam Vervaet, Chris Baeken, and Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt. 2023. “Attentional Bias to Food during Free and Instructed Viewing in Anorexia Nervosa : An Eye Tracking Study.” JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH 164: 468–476. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.039.
Vancouver
1.
Puttevils L, De Bruecker M, Allaert J, Sanchez-Lopez A, De Schryver N, Vervaet M, et al. Attentional bias to food during free and instructed viewing in anorexia nervosa : an eye tracking study. JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH. 2023;164:468–76.
IEEE
[1]
L. Puttevils et al., “Attentional bias to food during free and instructed viewing in anorexia nervosa : an eye tracking study,” JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, vol. 164, pp. 468–476, 2023.
@article{01H45W3QFW1YW8C8V7R1GKMRK0,
  abstract     = {{Previous research has shown that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) show an attentional bias to food. How-ever, due to different conceptualizations of attentional bias and the use of various paradigms, results are inconclusive and more precise insights into the exact nature of this attentional bias are needed. Therefore, an eye-tracking paradigm with food (low and high caloric) and non-food (objects) pictures was used to investigate biases in AN patients (n = 25) compared to healthy controls (n = 22). Several indices of visual attention were examined, both during free (initial orientation, fixation frequency, fixation time) and explicitly instructed (engagement, disengagement) viewing. Our results during the free viewing phase indicated that AN patients (as compared to healthy matched controls) looked less frequently and spent less time fixating on food stimuli, compared to the comparison group. No differences between both groups (n = 47) in initial orientation could be observed. Interestingly, during the instructed viewing phase, no differences between the patient and the com-parison group were observed in engagement or disengagement to food stimuli. These results suggest an (initial) attentional avoidance of food in AN patients when closely investigating spontaneous attentional processes, while this could not be observed during gaze behaviour when receiving clear instructions. Hence, future research should look into how attentional bias during spontaneous gaze patterns could serve as a potential marker of AN, and how targeting this bias could be applied in treatment interventions.}},
  author       = {{Puttevils, Louise and De Bruecker, Marie and Allaert, Jens and Sanchez-Lopez, Alvaro and De Schryver, Nele and Vervaet, Myriam and Baeken, Chris and Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne}},
  issn         = {{0022-3956}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH}},
  keywords     = {{Biological Psychiatry,Psychiatry and Mental health,Food,Attentional bias,Eye tracking,Anorexia nervosa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{468--476}},
  title        = {{Attentional bias to food during free and instructed viewing in anorexia nervosa : an eye tracking study}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.039}},
  volume       = {{164}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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