Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40390265›Full record

ArticleEuropean eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association2025

What the Eye Sees, the Mind Rejects: Implicit Visual Processing of Food Images in Anorexia Nervosa.

M Dimakopoulou, T Ciorli, M Pyasik, C Andriulli, F Bevione, M Martini, G Abbate Daga, L Pia

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

M DimakopoulouSAMBA (SpAtial, Motor & Bodily Awareness) Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.ORCID 0009-0009-3719-4893
T CiorliSAMBA (SpAtial, Motor & Bodily Awareness) Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
M PyasikLaboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
C AndriulliAOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
F BevioneAOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
M MartiniAOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
G Abbate DagaAOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-5826-5664
L PiaSAMBA (SpAtial, Motor & Bodily Awareness) Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.

Funding

Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study aims to explore the role of implicit visual processing in reinforcing maladaptive eating behaviours in Anorexia Nervosa-restricting subtype (AN-R), focussing on how high- and low-calorie food stimuli are processed at different stages.

methodThirty-two AN-R females and 36 healthy controls participated. Using a combination of novel paradigms in the field, the study employed: Breaking Continuous Flash Suppression (bCFS) for unconscious detection, Binocular Rivalry (BR) for perceptual dominance, and the Food Preference Approach-Avoidance Task (FP-AAT) for subconscious food associations.

resultsAN-R individuals exhibited prolonged perceptual dominance for high-calorie foods but simultaneously displayed stronger implicit avoidance tendencies towards these foods. Notably, the perceptual advantage correlated with heightened interoceptive awareness, while avoidance was linked to body dissatisfaction and difficulty tolerating bodily sensations. Conversely, healthy females showed the opposite pattern, implicitly approaching high-calorie foods while avoiding low-calorie foods, suggesting a more adaptive integration of food-related cues.

conclusionsThis study provides novel insights into the complex role of high-calorie foods in AN, highlighting whether and how different aspects of implicit visual processing influence eating behaviours, and underscoring the need for targeted interventions incorporating implicit cognitive mechanisms to address visual processing biases and support AN recovery.

Indexed as

Anorexia NervosaFeeding BehaviorFoodFood PreferencesVisual PerceptionAdolescentAdultBody ImageFemaleHumansYoung AdultAnorexia Nervosafood processingimplicit attitudesvisual awareness

Identifiers

PMID40390265
PMCPMC12319129

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.