Thinking about Eating Food Activates Visual Cortex with Reduced Bilateral Cerebellar Activation in Females with Anorexia Nervosa: An fMRI Study

Background: Women with anorexia nervosa (AN) have aberrant cognitions about food and altered activity in prefrontal cortical and somatosensory regions to food images. However, differential effects on the brain when thinking about eating food between healthy women and those with AN is unknown. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examined neural activation when 42 women thought about eating the food shown in images: 18 with AN (11 RAN, 7 BPAN) and 24 age-matched controls (HC). Results: Group contrasts between HC and AN revealed reduced activation in AN in the bilateral cerebellar vermis, and increased activation in the right visual cortex. Preliminary comparisons between AN subtypes and healthy controls suggest differences in cortical and limbic regions. Conclusions: These preliminary data suggest that thinking about eating food shown in images increases visual and prefrontal cortical neural responses in females with AN, which may underlie cognitive biases towards food stimuli and ruminations about controlling food intake. Future studies are needed to explicitly test how thinking about eating activates restraint cognitions, specifically in those with restricting vs. binge-purging AN subtypes

Textured Coronal Grooves and Their Effect on Marginal Bone Height and Gingival Contour in Humans

Objective. This study compared marginal bone height and gingival contour around implants with textured coronal grooves (TCGs) versus implants with a polished collar without TCGs. Background. Recently implants featuring TCGs near their implant-abutment interface have been investigated in animals and have shown enhanced bone stability. The effect of this enhanced stability on humans is not clear. Controversy exists as to whether TCGs maintain improved marginal bone height, or if they provide superior gingival contour, compared to other implant designs. Methods. Sixteen patients received immediately provisionalized tapered implants. Eight received implants with TCGs (test) while the other eight received implants with a 0.5mm polished collar (control). 22 total implants were investigated and followed for one year. Patients were evaluated clinically and with standardized radiographs at three, six and twelve months. Index evaluations of gingival contour along with measurements of the implant length and height of bone on both mesial and distal were obtained at each time point. Results. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the marginal bone height (from ratios of implant length versus bone height) and gingival contours surrounding both types of implants over time. Each group had an overall implant survival of 100%. Test and control implants provided equal esthetics up to twelve months. Conclusion. The findings from this investigation suggest that there is no difference in the marginal height of bone and healed gingival esthetics around implants designed with TCGs versus implants with a polished collar. Grants. This study was partially funded by a grant from Nobel Biocare