Executive Functioning and Visuospatial Abilities in Bulimia Nervosa with or without a Previous History of Anorexia Nervosa

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate executive functioning and visuospatial abilities in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN), with a particular interest in exploring the impact of a previous diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD: Several neuropsychological tasks were administered to 89 BN patients (52 with a previous history of AN and 37 without previous AN) and 160 healthy women. RESULTS: A poorer performance on set-shifting measures (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) was found only in BN patients with a previous history of AN. Decision-making abilities (Iowa Gambling Task) were significantly impaired in the whole sample of BN patients, but difficulties were more pronounced in the subgroup with previous AN. Finally, we did not find any differences in response inhibition and visuospatial abilities between the two samples of BN patients and healthy women. DISCUSSION: Our findings support the idea that cognitive abilities in patients with BN are more impaired in the presence of a prior history of AN. The clinical and treatment implications of our findings should be explored in future studies.