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Activity-Based Anorexia

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Synonyms

Activity anorexia; Activity-induced anorexia; Self-starvation; Semi-starvation-induced hyperactivity (SIH)

Definition

Activity-based anorexia (ABA) is a robust phenomenon that takes place in many animal species in which excessive physical activity is developed to a deleterious level when access to food intake is restricted to a short period of time a day (e.g., 1–2 h), resulting in reduced eating and substantial body weight loss. Paradoxically, the increment in locomotor activity takes place when energetic balance is negative, so that continued exposition of an animal (usually rats or mice) to intermittent food delivery plus almost permanent access to exercise could drive the animal to die if it is not withdrawn from the procedure. ABA constitutes the most recognized animal model of anorexia nervosa disease in humans due to the similarities between the behavior observed when animals are submitted in the laboratory to the above conditions and the characteristics of clinical...

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Correspondence to Ricardo Pellón .

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de Paz, A., Vidal, P., Pellón, R. (2020). Activity-Based Anorexia. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2088-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2088-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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