There is growing evidence for the contribution of neurocircuitry regulating emotion, as well as appetite and body weight, in the etiology of anorexia nervosa (AN). The high prevalence of anxiety disorders in AN implicates a critical node in the neurocircuitry of anxiety. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) modulates not only responses to anxiogenic (versus fear) situations, but mediates anxious temperament and feeding as well, through efferent connections to the lateral hypothalamus. In this study, we sought to identify if there is significant functional and structural changes of BNST in AN related to food.
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