He and colleagues are involved in an ongoing study attempting to identify genetic factors that play a role in the development of the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. There is probably not one single gene responsible for these conditions, but there is more likely a combination of genes. In a study presented here, he pointed out that brain scans have indicated that recovering bulimics may have serotonin activity that differs from that of healthy volunteers. Differences were found in the frontal cortex, a portion of the brain that is involved with mood and impulse control. This provides further support that there may be some biologic component to the development of bulimia, in which mood and impulse control is thought to play a factor.
Studies involving brain scans of recovering anorexics are ongoing.
We hope that a better understanding of brain mechanisms will lead to better treatment. There are probably pathways in the brain that regulate mood and impulse control. Conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and the eating disorders probably involve those pathways, but in different ways.