Recently the cognitive profile of restrictive anorexia nervosa patients, particularly visuospatial and constructive abilities, raised the interest of researchers as a maintenance factor of the disorder. This study focuses specifically on the impairment of these complex executive functions.

Only patients hospitalized in our department for restrictive anorexia nervosa restrictive type (AN-R) could participate in the study. They had to fulfill self-report questionnaires assessing anxiety and depression and had to achieve a battery of neuropsychological tests (the Rey Complex Figure (RCF), the Hayling Sentence Completion Test (HSCT) and the span test).

21 patients participated in the study. The average age was 20.62 years (σ = 5.39) and body mass index (BMI) was 14.67 (σ = 0.93). In this sample, the distribution of the copy of the RCF corresponds to the normal distribution for age 7 to 12 years. Visual memory (recall of the RCF) is impaired. The inhibition score of the HSCT is higher than normal. The mean score on the span task is at −0.68 standard derivation. Only the inhibition score of the HSCT is positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.46).

These results highlight a lack of visuospatial and visuoconstructive capacities and a lack of cognitive inhibition in patients with AN-R. These results can be integrated in an impairment of central coherence. Therapeutic perspectives that emerge would focus on the central coherence, i.e cognitive remediation. It is then necessary to improve knowledge on the cognitive profile.