REVIEW article
Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Motivation and Reward
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1644383
This article is part of the Research TopicThe moderating role of sex and gender on brain function and behaviorView all articles
The role of motivation in Eating Disorders: understanding sex differences in the circuits
Provisionally accepted
Sofia Nasini1*
Antonino Casile2
Brigitta Bonaldo3
Camilla Mancini2Serafina Manila Guzzo2
Luca Botticelli2
Stefano Comai1*- 1University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- 2Universita degli Studi di Camerino, Camerino, Italy
- 3Universita degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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Motivated behaviors, such as reproduction and feeding, are essential for mammalian survival.Although these behaviors serve distinct evolutionary purposes, they share a common function: fulfilling specific biological needs. Their regulation involves distinct brain regions and is influenced by a complex interplay of neural circuits, with significant sex-based differences.Alterations in motivation represent critical components of effort-based decision-making processes in eating disorders (EDs). Importantly, the impairments in motivated behavior observed in EDs arise not from structural changes within the relevant brain regions but rather from functional alterations influenced primarily by gonadal hormones. These hormones play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of EDs, driving sex-based differences in both the qualitative aspects of symptom presentation and developmental trajectories through intracellular genomic signaling pathways. The current review examines sex differences in motivated behavior within the context of EDs.
Keywords: Eating Disorders, sex differences, motivated behavior, neurotransmitters, neuronal pathways, Murine models
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 27 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nasini, Casile, Bonaldo, Mancini, Guzzo, Botticelli and Comai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sofia Nasini, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Stefano Comai, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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