Taste sensitivity in anorexia nervosa: A systematic review (original) (raw)

International Journal of Eating Disorders

Objective: There is evidence for altered processing of taste in anorexia nervosa, particularly in the areas of reward processing and hedonic sensitivity. However, research on whether people with anorexia nervosa identify taste stimuli accurately, known as taste sensitivity, has yielded mixed findings. The objective of this study was to synthesize the literature on taste sensitivity in this disorder to provide a basis for future discussion on whether altered taste sensitivity may be also implicated in wider atypical taste processing in anorexia. Method: Electronic databases were searched systematically to identify published research examining taste sensitivity in anorexia. Search terms were "anorexia nervosa", or "eating disorder", combined with "taste". 18 studies met inclusion criteria. Results: The review of the findings suggest that individuals with AN may experience reduced taste sensitivity that may improve following recovery. However, there was a significant variability in results across studies, potentially reflecting methodological problems including low sample sizes, experimental designs, and uncontrolled confounding variables. Discussion: This review suggests that altered taste sensitivity could represent a component in the wider altered taste processing observed in anorexia nervosa. However, the heterogeneity of findings highlight the need for future research to consider methodological issues raised by this review. Resumen Objetivo: Existe evidencia de una alteraci on en el procesamiento del gusto en la anorexia nervosa, particularmente en areas del procesamiento de la recompensa y la sensibilidad hed onica. Sin embargo, la investigaci on sobre si las personas con anorexia nervosa identifican los estímulos del gusto con precisi on, conocida como sensibilidad del gusto, ha arrojado resultados mixtos. El objetivo de este estudio fue sintetizar la literatura sobre la sensibilidad del gusto en este trastorno para proporcionar una base para la discusi on futura sobre si la sensibilidad al gusto alterada puede estar implicada tambi en en el procesamiento atípico, m as amplio, en la anorexia. M etodo: Se realiz o una b usqueda sistem atica en bases de datos electr onicas para identificar investigaciones publicadas que examinaron la sensibilidad del gusto en la anorexia. Los t erminos de b usqueda fueron "anorexia nervosa" o "trastorno alimentario", combinados con "gusto". Un total de 18 estudios cumplieron los criterios de inclusi on. Resultados: la revisi on de los hallazgos sugiere que las personas con AN experimentaron una sensibilidad del gusto reducida que puede mejorar despu es de la recuperaci on. Sin embargo, hubo una variabilidad significativa en los resultados entre los estudios, lo que podría reflejar problemas metodol ogicos que incluyen tamaños de muestra pequeños, diseños experimentales y variables de confusi on no controladas.