Abstract
BackgroundThe recent surge in commercially available wearable technology has allowed real-time self-monitoring of behavior (eg, physical activity) and physiology (eg, glucose levels). However, there is limited neuroimaging work (ie, functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) to identify how people’s brains respond to receiving this personalized health feedback and how this impacts subsequent behavior.ObjectiveIdentify regions of the brain activated and examine associations between activation and behavior.MethodsThis was a pilot study to assess physical activity, sedentary time, and glucose levels over 14 days in 33 adults (aged 30 to 60 years). Extracted accelerometry, inclinometry, and interstitial glucose data informed the construction of personalized feedback messages (eg, average number of steps per day). These messages were subsequently presented visually to participants during fMRI. Participant physical activity levels and sedentary time were assessed again for 8 days following exposure to this personalized feedback.ResultsIndependent tests identified significant activations within the prefrontal cortex in response to glucose feedback compared with behavioral feedback (P<.001). Reductions in mean sedentary time (589.0 vs 560.0 minutes per day, P=.014) were observed. Activation in the subgyral area had a moderate correlation with minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (r=0.392, P=.043).ConclusionPresenting personalized glucose feedback resulted in significantly more brain activation when compared with behavior. Participants reduced time spent sedentary at follow-up. Research on deploying behavioral and physiological feedback warrants further investigation.
Highlights
Physical inactivity, insufficient levels of physical activity, is attributable to 9% of premature mortality and 7% of type 2 diabetes cases [1]
As recent neuroimaging work has highlighted value in analyzing individual responses to feedback relating to lifestyle behaviors [14], we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural responses to personalized feedback relating to physical activity, sedentary behavior, and interstitial glucose levels
Our study identified that presenting people with personalized feedback relating to interstitial glucose levels resulted in significantly more brain activation when compared with personalized behavioral feedback
Summary
Insufficient levels of physical activity, is attributable to 9% of premature mortality and 7% of type 2 diabetes cases [1]. Wearable activity monitors have grown in popularity in consumer markets to help users physically track their movement behaviors (eg, active minutes, step counts, distance traveled, time spent sitting) [6,7]. Over this same time, wearable physiological sensing devices (eg, heart rate monitors, continuous glucose monitors) have been evolving and are venturing beyond the clinical domains and into more consumer-focused markets [8]. Research on deploying behavioral and physiological feedback warrants further investigation
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