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

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: Anorexia Nervosa
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cognitive Control Deprivation Task

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 54
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Nematollah Jaafari, Professor; Phone Number: +33 5 16 52 61 18; Email: nemat.jaafari@ch-poitiers.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Poitiers, France, 86000
    • Recruiting
    • Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
    • Contact: Nematollah Jaafari, Professor; Phone Number: +33 516 52 61 18; Email: nemat.jaafari@ch-poitiers.fr

Participation Criteria

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

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

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	Baseline (before cognitive control deprivation) and immediately post-task (after cognitive control deprivation on Day 1)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
• Collaborators: Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage

Study record dates

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: Mental Disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Anorexia Nervosa
• 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