Anorexia, Anxiety & Animal Models

In this weeks episode, Han is joined by PhD candidate Melinda Karth. Melinda is a PhD candidate at Purdue University, where she is looking at anxiety in individuals "recovered" from anorexia nervosa.

With Melinda, we begin discussing her journey into neuroscience, and what inspired her research. We then speak about the current animal models that are used in eating disorder research, including the binge eating model and anorexia model in mice. We also discuss the potential for a bulimia nervosa animal model, and PICA in giraffes!

We then speak about Melinda's PhD work, and discuss how animals demonstrate symptoms of anxiety and depression, and discuss her PhD looking at anxiety and anorexia in weight restored individuals. Finally, we discuss how different parts of the brain are involved in symptoms of eating disorders and anxiety.

To find out more about Melinda and her research, you can follow her @MelindaKarth and check out Melinda's blogs here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-neuroscience-eating-disorders

Please note we discuss a number of eating disorder behaviours and how they are manipulated in mice models. Take care and tread lightly.