NCT05531604: ACAN

Appetitive Conditioning in Anorexia Nervosa

Active, enrolled Last updated 27 March 2026

What this trial tests

trial testing appetitive conditioning in Anorexia Nervosa in 90 participants. Participants enrolled and being followed up; not accepting new ones.

Timeline

30 September 2022

Primary endpoint
25 December 2025

30 June 2026

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Status	Active, enrolled
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	90
Start date	30 September 2022
Primary completion	25 December 2025
Estimated completion	30 June 2026
Sites	1 location across Canada

Drugs / interventions tested

• appetitive conditioning

Conditions studied

• Anorexia Nervosa — all drugs for Anorexia Nervosa →

Sponsor

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health — full company profile →

Who can join

Adults 12 to 22, female only, with Anorexia Nervosa. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by a reduced drive to pursue rewarding experiences and stimuli. Food consumption - which is almost universally experienced as pleasurable - is not described as rewarding by those with AN. This is thought to be underpinned by abnormalities around reward learning. However, the most fundamental question relating to reward in AN - whether those with AN may learn positive associations - remains unaddressed.

In this study, the investigators will identify the patterns of how those with AN acquire positive associations, how they diminish, and their relationships to physiology (heart rate and pupil responses) and brain activation. In assessing the robustness of this learning, the investigators will investigate the extent to which this association is reactivated after 24 hours, and the extent to which a memory prompt will help reinstate this previously learned positive association.

This project will allow for important advances in our understanding of the neurobiology of AN. The investigators will first identify if, and how, those with AN come to learn positive associations to cues, and secondly, the extent to which learned positive associations remain over time. Moreover, the investigators will use machine learning to ascertain whether reward learning can be predicted by physiological and neural biomarkers.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Assessing midbrain neuromelanin and its relationship to reward learning in anorexia nervosa: Stage 1 of a registered report.
   Murray SB, Diaz-Fong JP, Mak VWT, Feusner JD. · · 2024 · cited 3× · PMID 38898625 · DOI 10.1002/brb3.3573