A Melbourne study has uncovered a new biomarker that could be used to help diagnose Anorexia. Source: AAP
MELBOURNE researchers have discovered a biomarker they say could help diagnose with 95 per cent accuracy one of the deadliest mental illnesses.
A STUDY of 24 women with anorexia nervosa and 24 people who didn’t have the eating disorder, showed that those with the condition had different eye movements.
Researchers from Swinburne University, The University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital found people with anorexia displayed eye movements called square wave jerks which, they said, only a small number of healthy individuals have. The square wave jerks, known as saccadic intrusion, were observed during an attempted fixation task during which participants were instructed to fixate on a white cross against a black background for five minutes. “Since the 1960s, we’ve recognised that people with mental health disorders have problems with the way they move their eyes,” Professor Susan Rossell from Swinburne’s Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre said. The aim of the study was to investigate whether individuals with anorexia and healthy control individuals differed in the rate of square wave jerks. The research found that participants with anorexia produced a significantly greater number of square wave jerks during the task than healthy individuals. “This phenomenal finding tells us that it is part of a more fundamental brain network that is core to our eye movements,” Professor Rossell said in a statement. She said the findings needed to be replicated and expanded, but indicated a neurotransmitter – gamma-aminobutyric acid (BAGA) – that contributes to motor control, vision and other cortical functions may be involved in the impaired eye movements. Medications that influence the GABA system have not previously been explored as a treatment avenue in anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa has a mortality rate among the highest of any psychiatric illnesses but its cause remains unclear.