Translational Research on Eating Disorders

描述（由申请人提供）：进食障碍、神经性厌食症和 神经性贪食症是一种病因不明的精神疾病， 妇女人数众多，并与高发病率有关 and mortality.这些疾病的一个中心行为特征是 控制膳食的大小。神经性厌食症的特点是 小餐和神经性贪食症的异常大（“暴饮暴食”）的膳食。 在过去的二十年里，在了解 控制实验室动物的膳食量，但直接应用这些 缺乏饮食失调的模型。第二个临床特征是 饮食失调是一种缩小的行为剧目， 思想和行为逐渐干扰其他职业， 社交活动。这种模式让人联想到个体的行为 依赖毒品。有大量的临床前数据记录了 滥用药物的行为和神经化学影响，但是，同样， 很少有人试图系统地研究这些信息的效用， 了解饮食失调 这项拟议的R21发展赠款将转化为临床前知识， 饮食行为和物质使用的控制对人类研究的影响 饮食失调将建立正式的合作关系， 在动物摄食行为研究方面有专业知识的研究人员， 具有人类药物滥用研究专业知识的调查人员， 在人类饮食和饮食失调研究方面具有专业知识的研究人员。 这个研究小组将开发和进行实验， 动物研究进入人类饮食失调的研究，相反， 在动物模型中检查临床经验中描述的现象， 饮食失调的患者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, are psychiatric illnesses of uncertain etiology which affect a significant number of women and which are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. A central behavioral feature of these disorders is a disturbance in the control of meal size. Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by abnormally small meals and Bulimia Nervosa by abnormally large ("binge") meals. Substantial progress has been made in the last two decades in understanding the controls of meal size in laboratory animals, but direct applications of these models to disordered eating are lacking. A second clinical characteristic of eating disorders is a narrowing of behavioral repertoire so that food-related thinking and behavior progressively interfere with other occupational and social activities. This pattern is reminiscent of the behavior of individuals dependent on drugs. There are substantial preclinical data documenting the behavioral and neurochemical effects of drugs of abuse, but, again, there have been few attempts to examine systematically the utility of this information in understanding eating disorders. This proposed R21 Developmental Grant will translate preclinical knowledge of the controls of eating behavior and of substance use to the study of human eating disorders. A formal collaboration will be established between investigators with expertise in the study of feeding behavior in animals, investigators with expertise in the study of human substance abuse and investigators with expertise in the study of human eating and eating disorders. This research group will develop and conduct experiments to translate basic animal research into the study of human eating disorders and, conversely, to examine in animal models phenomena described in clinical experience with patients with eating disorders.