Abstract
The understanding of food cue associated neural activations that predict future weight variability may guide the design of effective prevention programs and treatments for overeating and obesity. The current study investigated the association between brain response to different food odors with varied energy density and individual changes of body mass index (BMI) over 2 years. Twenty-five participants received high-fat (chocolate and peanut), low-fat (bread and peach) food odors, and a nonfood odor (rose) while the brain activation was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). BMIs were calculated with participant’s self-reported body weight and height collected at the time of the fMRI scan and again at 2 years later. Regression analyses revealed significant negative correlations between BMI increase over 2 years and brain activation of the bilateral precuneus and the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in response to high-fat vs. low-fat food odors. Also, brain activation of the right supplementary motor area (SMA) in response to food vs. non-food odor was negatively correlated to subsequent BMI increase over 2 years. Taken together, the current findings suggest that individual differences in neural responsivity to (high calorie) food odors in brain regions of the default mode and motor control network serve as a neural marker for future BMI change.
Highlights
Bodyweight variability in humans is usually regulated by many factors including diet and lifestyle (Mozaffarian et al, 2011)
The current study investigated the association between brain response to different food odors with varied energy density and individual changes of body mass index (BMI) over 2 years
The current findings suggest that individual differences in neural responsivity to food odors in brain regions of the default mode and motor control network serve as a neural marker for future BMI change
Summary
Bodyweight variability in humans is usually regulated by many factors including diet and lifestyle (Mozaffarian et al, 2011). External appetitive food cues are important drivers for eating behavior, with higher food cue reactivity and food craving predict weight gain (Boswell and Kober, 2016). One recent research applying a bootstrapping sampling approach had suggested that only little reliable evidence regarding stronger reward brain responses to food images or food tastes predicted future weight gain (Stice and Yokum, 2018). The lower brain activation of the pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) in response to an oral tasting of highfat/low-sugar milkshake and the increased activation of the precentral gyrus/Rolandic operculum in responses to palatable food images were moderately reliable predictors for future weight gain (Stice and Yokum, 2018). A recent study investigated the neural response to a milkshake with varying levels of sugar or fat had found that individuals with greater activation in the postcentral gyrus, insula, and medial prefrontal cortex in response to high-fat vs. low-fat milkshake gained more weight in the later period (Yokum and Stice, 2019)
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