Abstract
Altered eating behavior due to modern, food-enriched environments has a share in the recent obesity upsurge, though the exact mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to assess whether higher weight or weight gain are related to stronger effects of external cues on motivation-driven behavior. 51 people with and without obesity completed an appetitive Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) paradigm. During training, button presses as well as presentation of fractal images resulted in three palatable and one neutral taste outcome. In the subsequent test phase, outcome-specific and general behavioral bias of the positively associated fractal images on deliberate button press were tested under extinction. While all participants showed signs of specific transfer, general transfer was not elicited. Contrary to our expectations, there was no main effect of weight group on PIT magnitude. Participants with obesity exhibited higher scores in the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Disinhibition scale, replicating a very robust effect from previous literature. Individual Restraint scores were able to predict body-mass index (BMI) change after a three-year period. Our data indicate that PIT is an important player in how our environment influences the initiation of food intake, but its effects alone cannot explain differences in—or future development of—individual weight.
Highlights
The prevalence of weight-related conditions has continuously risen, with 52% of adults and18% of children worldwide being classified as overweight or obese as of 2019 [1]
Over-eating in the presence of pervasive food-related cues can result from overtrained reward seeking behavior and subsequent translation into automatic response patterns
This study provides additional evidence for Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer of appetitive cues to reward seeking behavior
Summary
18% of children worldwide being classified as overweight or obese as of 2019 [1] This coincides with environmental changes concerning increased availability of high-caloric foods and lower energy expenditure [2,3,4]. Eating in response to appetitive cues such as pictures of food—external eating—is related to increased awareness of food-cues [5], which can gain more behavioral relevance than homeostatic drive [6]. This attention bias to food-cues is more prominent in children from obese backgrounds [7]
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