Abstract
Neural patterns associated with viewing energy-dense foods can predict changes in eating-related outcomes. However, most research on this topic is limited to one follow-up time point, and single outcome measures. The present study seeks to add to that literature by employing a more refined assessment of food craving and consumption outcomes along with a more detailed neurobiological model of behavior change over several time points. Here, a community sample of 88 individuals (age: M = 39.17, SD = 3.47; baseline BMI: M = 31.5, SD = 3.9, range 24–42) with higher body mass index (BMI) performed a food craving reactivity and regulation task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. At that time—and 1, 3, and 6 months later—participants reported craving for and consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods via the Food Craving Inventory (FCI) and ASA24 (N at 6 months = 52–55 depending on the measure). A priori hypotheses that brain activity associated with both viewing and regulating personally desired unhealthy, energy-dense foods would be associated with self-reported craving for and consumption of unhealthy foods at baseline were not supported by the data. Instead, regression models controlling for age, sex, and BMI demonstrated that brain activity across several regions measured while individuals were regulating their desires for unhealthy food was associated with the self-reported craving for and consumption of healthy food. The hypothesis that vmPFC activity would predict patterns of healthier eating was also not supported. Instead, linear mixed models controlling for baseline age and sex, as well as changes in BMI, revealed that more regulation-related activity in the dlPFC, dACC, IFG, and vmPFC at baseline predicted decreases in the craving for and consumption of healthy foods over the course of 6 months.
Highlights
For many of us, seeing or smelling something that reminds us of a favorite food can elicit a strong desire for that food
The present study aimed to address this gap by measuring brain activity associated with both food cue reactivity and regulation, and prospectively investigating how it predicted changes in selfreported liking of, craving for, and consumption of both healthy and unhealthy foods over the course of 6 months in a sample of middle-aged adults with higher body mass index (BMI)
We explored the association between brain activity and liking of, craving for, and consumption of healthy foods in order to examine the specificity of this effect to unhealthy food
Summary
Seeing or smelling something that reminds us of a favorite food can elicit a strong desire for that food. Strong desires, called cravings, often lead to the consumption of that food (e.g., Fedoroff et al, 2003) This frequently occurs for unhealthy or energy-dense foods like snacks and desserts (Massicotte et al, 2019). Consumption of such energy-dense foods is associated with increased risk for overweight [25 kg/m2 ≤ body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m2], obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), and health consequences associated with higher body weight (Pereira et al, 2005; Duffey et al, 2007; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). The present study seeks to extend this work by (1) employing a more refined assessment of food preference, craving, and consumption outcomes above and beyond BMI, (2) interrogating these patterns for both healthy and unhealthy foods, and (3) creating a more detailed model of behavior change over multiple time points
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