Sulcal characteristics patterns and gyrification gradient at different stages of Anorexia Nervosa: A structural MRI evaluation

•Patients with acute Anorexia Nervosa displayed a higher sulcal prominence in specific cortical sulci when compared to healthy controls.•Differences in the anterior-posterior cortical gyrification gradient were detected in patients with acute AN in areas encompassing the central Sulcus, the parieto-temporal regions and the frontal lobe ones.•A negative correlation exists between sulcal width and gyrification gradient in areas where these values are altered in patients with AN.•Patients with a duration of the disorder longer than 1 year and patients with a shorter duration showed similar patterns of sulcal alterations when compared to healthy controls. Previous research evidenced alterations of different cortical parameters in patients with acute Anorexia Nervosa (AN), but no study to date investigated the morphology of individual sulci and their relationship with other structural indices. Our study aims at exploring the depth and width of 16 major cortical sulci in AN at different stages of the disorder and their relationships with the gyrification gradient. Two samples were included in the study. The first involved 38 patients with acute AN, 20 who fully recovered from AN, and 38 healthy women (HW); the second included 16 patients with AN and 16 HW. Sulcal width and depth were estimated for 16 sulci and outlined with a factorial analysis. An anterior-posterior gradient of gyrification was also extracted. Compared to HW, patients with acute AN displayed higher width and depth values in specific cortical sulci, and an altered gyrification gradient in areas encompassing the Central Sulcus, and Parieto-Temporal and Frontal Lobe regions. Sulcal width negatively correlated with gyrification gradient in areas where these values are altered in AN patients. Our results suggest the presence of alterations in sulcal morphology with a pattern similar to the gyrification gradient one and which seems to be related with malnutrition.