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NCT Number: NCT07344831

Impact of Fatty Stimuli on Cerebral Activity in Anorexia Nervosa: a Multi-sensory Approach

Lipid restriction is significant in anorexia nervosa and limits therapeutic management. The multisensory perception of fat is altered, creating an aversion to lipids. The investigators aim to characterize the impact of sensory stimulation (smells or images) associated with specific tastes using neuropsychological assessments and functional MRI. Some volatile aromas can enhance the perception of the associated taste. The investigators hypothesize that such associations are altered in anorexia nervosa for fatty foods but may be preserved for sweet tastes, and that this alteration contributes to the maintenance of the disease. The interdependence of different sensory perceptions of lipids could play a major role in the therapeutic approach, aiding in the deconditioning of this aversion and the restoration of positive food sensory associations.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

CHU de Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne, 42055, France

Location contact

Bogdan GALUSCA, MD PhD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Fabien SCHNEIDER, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(0)477127529 ext. +33

Natacha GERMAIN, MD PhD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Person affiliated or entitled to a social security scheme
  • Person having received informed information on the study and having co-signed, with the investigator, a consent to participate in the study
  • female person
  • Person affiliated or entitled to a social security scheme
  • Over 18 years'old
  • Knowing how to read and write French
  • Patient diagnosed with anorexia nervosa according to DSM-5 criteria for at least 5 years (HAS criteria). Failure of prior outpatient or/and hospitalization care over the last 12 months: stable or falling low BMI, unmodified food restriction, continued fear of weight gain, disturbances in the perception of body image
  • BMI < 18.5 kg/m² for volunteers in a state of constitutional thinness. The absence of eating disorder and the absence of restriction to DEBQ questionnaires. Fertility preserved.
  • For volunteers of normal weight: 18.5 kg/m² < BMI < 25 kg/m²

Exclusion criteria

  • Pregnant women, parturient, nursing mothers;
  • Persons deprived of their liberty, hospitalized without consent, hospitalized for purposes other than research;
  • Minors
  • Refusal of the study by the participant
  • Person incapable of giving informed consent
  • Artificial nutrition
  • Associated organic damage favoring undernutrition: other chronic diseases (digestive, infectious, endocrine, pulmonary, cardiac, neurological), neoplasms, etc.
  • Abuse of psychoactive substances except tobacco
  • Characterized depressive episode, psychosis
  • Score less than 14 on the Edinburgh laterality questionnaire.
  • Contraindications to MRI or allergy to one of the components of the olfactory and taste tests
  • Smokers
  • Smell or taste alterations

Treatment and study plan

MRI examination

Other

One hour MRI examination

Smell and taste capacity testings

Other

one hour sensory testings

Primary outcomes

  1. Brain activity measured by functional MRI

    Time frame: Day 1

    Estimation of the "fatty vs. neutral" contrast when all three senses are used, comparing AN patients to the normal-weight control group (NC group) in each voxel of the brain volume (whole-brain analysis) and in the orbitofrontal cortex (ROI analysis).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Brain activity measured by functional MRI

    Time frame: Day 1

    Estimation of the "fatty vs. neutral" contrast when all three senses are used, comparing AN patients to the control group with a similar BMI (CT group) in each voxel of the brain volume (whole-brain analysis) and in the orbitofrontal cortex (ROI analysis).

  2. Brain activity measured by functional MRI

    Time frame: Day 1

    BOLD signal variations between the groups (AN, NC, and CT) for the "sweet vs. neutral" contrast.

  3. Brain activity measured by functional MRI

    Time frame: Day 1

    BOLD signal variations for single vs. three senses simultaneously for each group and between groups for the "fatty vs. neutral" and "sweet vs. neutral" contrasts.

  4. BMI

    Time frame: DAY 1.

    Body Mass Index

  5. Olfactory and gustatory abilities

    Time frame: Day 1

    MediSens tests of olfactory and gustatory abilities

  6. 3DT1 morphological MRI

    Time frame: Day 1

    Brain morphometric measures and voxel-based morphometry.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Fabien SCHNEIDER, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(0)477127529 ext. +33

Florence RANCON, CDP

CONTACT

[email protected]

(0)477829458 ext. +33

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

Other

Registry information

Acronym: ANOVERSION

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jan 15, 2026
Registry last updated
Jan 15, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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