Disruptions in reward processing and anhedonia have long been observed in Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Interoceptive deficits have also been observed in AN, including reduced tactile pleasure. However, the extent to which this tactile anhedonia is specifically liked to an impairment in a specialized, interoceptive C-tactile system originating at the periphery, or a more top-down mechanism in the processing of tactile pleasantness remains debated. Here, we investigated differences between patients with and recovered from AN and healthy controls in the perception of pleasantness of touch delivered in a CT-optimal versus a CT-non-optimal manner, and in their top-down, anticipatory beliefs about the perceived pleasantness of touch. To this end, we measured the anticipated pleasantness of various materials touching the skin and the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic touch applied to the forearm of 27 women with AN, 24 women who have recovered and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (slow) and non-optimal (fast) velocities. Our results showed that both clinical groups anticipated tactile experiences and rated delivered tactile stimuli as less pleasant than healthy controls, but the latter difference was not related to the CT optimality of the stimulation. Instead, differences in the perception of CT-optimal touch were predicted by differences in top-down beliefs, alexithymia and interoceptive sensibility. Thus, tactile anhedonia in AN might persist as a trait even after otherwise successful recovery of AN and it is not linked to a bottom-up interoceptive deficit in the CT system, but rather to a learned, defective top-down anticipation of tactile pleasantness.

在神经性厌食症 (AN) 中，长期以来一直观察到奖励处理和快感缺乏的中断。在 AN 中也观察到内感受缺陷，包括触觉快感降低。然而，这种触觉快感缺失在多大程度上特别喜欢起源于外围的专门的、内感受的 C 触觉系统的损伤，或者在处理触觉愉悦的过程中更自上而下的机制仍然存在争议。在这里，我们调查了 AN 患者和从 AN 中恢复的患者与健康对照组之间在以 CT 最佳与非最佳方式传递的触觉愉悦感方面的差异，以及他们对感知愉悦感的自上而下的预期信念的触摸。为此，我们测量了接触皮肤的各种材料的预期愉悦度以及应用于 27 名患有 AN 的女性、24 名已经康复的女性和 30 名健康对照的前臂的轻、动态触摸的感知愉悦度，使用 C Tactile (CT) 传入 - 最佳（慢) 和非最佳（快速）速度。我们的结果表明，两个临床组都预期触觉体验，并将传递的触觉刺激评为不如健康对照组令人愉快，但后者的差异与刺激的 CT 最优性无关。相反，通过自上而下的信念、述情障碍和内感受性的差异来预测 CT 最佳触摸感知的差异。因此，