Affect regulation and food intake in bulimia nervosa: emotional responding to food cues after deprivation and subsequent eating

Emotional responding to salient food cues and effects of food deprivation and consumption were investigated in 32 women with bulimia and 32 control women. One half of each group was food deprived before viewing unpleasant, neutral, pleasant, and food-related pictures. Then participants could eat from a buffet before viewing a parallel picture set. Women with bulimia showed a substantial potentiation of startle responses during viewing of food cues relative to control women. This startle potentiation was attenuated by food deprivation and augmented by increased food consumption. These data support the affective regulation model suggesting that food cues prompt negative affective states in women with bulimia, who are overwhelmed by fasting. The resulting deprivation increases the incentive value of food cues and may thus trigger binge eating.