A novel model of obesity prediction: Neurobehaviors as targets for treatment.

Abstract

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that is on the rise, with approximately 30% of the world population classified as either overweight or obese. The United States has some of the highest rates of obesity, and in most countries in the world, obesity now poses more of a serious health concern than malnutrition. Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disorder that is both preventable and treatable; however, traditional interventions that target eating less and exercising more have low success rates, especially in the long term. Therefore, identifying the neurobehaviors that predict obesity is important to help identify targets to decrease BMI and improve obesity outcomes. Using the Competing Neurobehavioral Decisions System (CNDS) Theory, we hypothesized that individuals with obesity compared to individuals without obesity would display neurobehaviors marked by a hyperactive impulsive system and a hypoactive executive system. To test this hypothesis, we collected data from a battery of self-reported measures and neurocognitive assessments through Amazon Mechanical Turk from n = 178 obese (BMI ≥ 30) and n = 198 nonobese controls who were weight stable for the past 3 months. We found that compared to the nonobese control group, individuals with obesity showed heightened delay discounting (a marker of CNDS imbalance), impaired motivation, poor self-image, decreased affective state, and impaired executive function. Using a Bayesian network approach, we established a neurobehavioral model that predicts obesity with 64.4% accuracy and indicates an imbalance between impulsive and executive neural systems. Results from our study suggest that interventions targeting neurobehaviors may be integral to help improve obesity outcomes.

Food-Related Impulsivity in the Triangle of Obesity, Eating Behaviors and Diet

“…There are many studies in the literature reporting that overweight individuals have a higher BIS-11 score and a higher BMI is associated with behavioral disinhibition in food stimuli. (Nederkoorn et al, 2006;Meule et al, 2014;Reyes et al, 2015;Meule et al, 2016;Bénard et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2018;Schmidt et al, 2018;Wen et al, 2020;Rasmussen et al, 2021;Satyal et al, 2021;Steele et al, 2021). In these studies, researchers reported that applying interventions targeting neurobehaviors and helping obese people control their impulses may have a role that complements dietary interventions in the treatment of obesity (Nederkoorn et al, 2006;Satyal et al, 2021).…”

Neurobehavioral phenotypes of delay discounting and cognitive control in child attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and obesity: Shared or distinct?

“…Notably, few studies have included a non‐ADHD control group with mixed findings among those that have, including a positive association between body mass index (BMI) and executive dysfunction in the ADHD group but a negative association in the control group 11 or no association 12 . Identification of the shared and distinct phenotypes underlying obesity and ADHD has clinical value, as this could facilitate a precision medicine approach to prevention and treatment of independent or comorbid obesity and ADHD 13 . For example, a recent study found that cognitive training improved weight loss at the group level among 8–14 year‐olds in a weight loss program, 14 although there was individual variability in treatment response.…”

“…12 Identification of the shared and distinct phenotypes underlying obesity and ADHD has clinical value, as this could facilitate a precision medicine approach to prevention and treatment of independent or comorbid obesity and ADHD. 13 For example, a recent study found that cognitive training improved weight loss at the group level among 8-14 year-olds in a weight loss program, 14 although there was individual variability in treatment response. Such treatments may be most effective for children with obesity and ADHD diagnosis/symptoms, who may be more likely to have deficient CC.…”

Parents, but not their children, demonstrate greater delay discounting with resource scarcity

“…It is a process whereby a reduction in the value of a reinforcer is a function of the delay to its receipt [ 1 – 3 ]. It is a trans-disease process [ 4 , 5 ] that is related to obesity and health maintenance behaviors [ 3 , 6 – 9 ]. Delay discounting rates can be increased by genetic, neural, environmental, and other factors and modulates the risk of other disorders (e.g., obesity, diabetes) through maladaptive health behaviors (e.g., fast food consumption, poor medication adherence) [ 10 ].…”