Influence of Control Deprivation on the Use of the Analytical Cognitive Style in Anorexic Subjects (PriCo-SCASA)

November 27, 2025 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
The use of an analytical cognitive style is a specific feature of anorexia nervosa and is thought to contribute to the maintenance of the disorder, in particular by encouraging fragmented body perception and a focus on certain parts of the body to the detriment of overall harmony and coherence. The need for control has also been described as an important element in the pathology. At the same time, some authors have shown that, outside of any pathology, recourse to the analytical cognitive style could respond to a need to restore control and, in turn, improve the feeling of control. However, at present, no causal relationship has been demonstrated between the feeling of loss of control and the analytical cognitive style in anorexia nervosa. However, such a relationship would enable us to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disorder and to better target the treatment of patients.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

54

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • France
      • Poitiers, France, 86000
        • Recruiting
        • Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be undergoing treatment at Centre Hospitalier Laborit (CHL) or Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Poitiers for an Eating Disorder (ED) of the Anorexia Nervosa type.
  • Patients must meet the diagnostic criteria for Anorexia Nervosa according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2013), or present a sub-clinical symptomatology requiring treatment:

(A) Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight, taking into account age, sex, developmental stage, and physical health; (B) Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, even when at a significantly low weight; (C) Disturbance in the way body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-esteem, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Objection of the referring therapist
  • Currently receiving cognitive remediation targeting mental flexibility and central coherence
  • Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 14
  • Inability to understand instructions in French
  • Visual impairment or dyslexia

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Control Deprivation
Other: Cognitive Control Deprivation Task
The investigators will measure the reaction time to the detection of a stimulus requiring analytical information processing compared with the time required to detect a stimulus requiring global information processing. These measurements will be carried out before and after a cognitive control deprivation experiment, which will be used to activate a need for control in the experimental context. The two measures will then be compared to examine the changes that occur after the deprivation of control.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Reaction time
Time Frame: Baseline (before cognitive control deprivation) and immediately post-task (after cognitive control deprivation on Day 1)
Baseline (before cognitive control deprivation) and immediately post-task (after cognitive control deprivation on Day 1)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit

Collaborators

Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 4, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 3, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 3, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 3, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 27, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 10, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 27, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023-A00826-39

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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