Cognitive Flexibility in Eating Disorders

Abstract

Abstract Eating disorders are often associated with neuropsychological traits of rigid and inflexible cognition and behavior. Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to effectively adapt to changes in the environment and/or changing task demands by selectively altering one’s thoughts, responses and/or behaviors. It can be assessed using several different neurocognitive tasks, including those that measure set-shifting and task-switching. This chapter will summarize the state of the science of cognitive flexibility deficits in individuals with eating disorders. Cognitive flexibility deficits in neuropsychological tasks appear to be most pronounced among individuals with anorexia nervosa and may be less characteristic of other eating disorders. Implications for a discrepancy in findings between objective and subjective measures of cognitive flexibility are also provided, as well implications for therapeutic interventions.