Binge-eating disorder may be distinguished by visuospatial memory deficits

Objective: Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by recurrent episodes of loss of control overeating, is highly comorbid with overweight and obesity. Both loss of control eating and higher body mass index have been associated with poor memory. The current study sought to clarify the relationships between BED, weight and memory. Specifically, visual memory was examined, given evidence of impaired visuospatial abilities in overweight individuals and little research on visual memory in BED. Method: Overweight and normal-weight women with BED and matched healthy controls were administered the Rey Complex Figure Test. Results: Planned contrasts revealed that normal-weight healthy controls performed better than all other groups on the immediate and delayed recall portions of the task. Performance on the immediate recall portion was better among normal-weight individuals than overweight individuals, and performance on both the immediate and delayed recall portions was better among individuals without BED than those with BED. No differences between groups were seen on the copy or recognition trials. Conclusions: Visual memory appears to be impaired among overweight participants and both normal and overweight participants with BED. This finding was specific to retrieval. Replication of this finding in BED using different measures of memory is needed.