There has been much confusion and speculation about the reasons for abnormal eating behaviors and other symptoms in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) (1). For example, individuals with AN dramatically restrict their caloric consumption and achieve severe emaciation yet are often preoccupied with food or cook for others. Moreover, food, or even the anticipation of eating, tends to be anxiogenic, whereas avoiding eating often reduces these uncomfortable feelings. Individuals with BN tend to alternate between restrictive eating and overeating with loss of self-control, followed by purging behaviors. They may use bingeing and purging behaviors to suppress negative mood states. In this issue of Biological Psychiatry, Gerard et al. (2) contribute new insights to an emerging literature that characterizes the neuro-chemistry contributing to altered feeding, reward, and mood symptoms in AN and BN.
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