Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe mental illness characterized in part
by rigid thinking and ritualized behaviors involving eating and weight.
Cognitive rigidity may play a role in the perpetuation of symptoms, and
may provide information as to important brain-based abnormalities.
Neuropsychological studies of patients with AN have shown cognitive
dysfunction, but few have focused on cognitive flexibility. This study
assessed set shifting in patients with AN, as a measure of cognitive
flexibility. In this study, 15 patients with AN were compared with 11
healthy controls using a neuropsychological battery including the
Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST). While patients with AN did not differ
from controls on 5 measures of neuropsychological function, they made
significantly more perseverative errors on the WCST, indicating a problem
in set shifting. This finding suggests that patients with AN have a
specific neurocognitive abnormality that may play a role in the
development and persistence of this disorder. (JINS, 2006,
12, 431–435.)