Delay discounting moderates the effect of food reinforcement on energy intake among non-obese women

Abstract

Recent theoretical approaches to food intake hypothesize that eating represents a balance between reward-driven motivation to eat versus inhibitory executive function processes, however this hypothesis remains to be tested. The objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that the motivation to eat, operationalized by the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of food, and inhibitory processes, assessed by delay discounting (DD), interact to influence energy intake in an ad libitum eating task. Female subjects (n = 24) completed a DD of money procedure, RRV task, and an ad libitum eating task in counterbalanced sessions. RRV of food predicted total energy intake, however the effect of the RRV of food on energy intake was moderated by DD. Women higher in DD and RRV of food consumed greater total energy, whereas women higher in RRV of food but lower in DD consumed less total energy. Our findings support the hypothesis that reinforcing value and executive function mediated processes interactively influence food consumption.

Delayed discounting and hedonic hunger in the prediction of lab-based eating behavior

“…Past research suggests investigating total consumption may also be valuable (Rollins et al, 2010). Post-hoc analyses were conducted to assess the abilities of DD and PFS scores to predict oatmeal preload intake added to snack intake and alone.…”

“…Delay discounting DD was measured using a computerized task (Appelhans et al, 2011). Measures of DD have strong test-retest reliability (Odum, 2011), and are linked to eating behavior (Davis et al, 2010;Rollins, Dearing, & Epstein, 2010;Yeomans et al, 2008). Participants chose between $100 at various delay intervals, or a different monetary reward available immediately.…”

Translational research into intertemporal choice: The Western scrub-jay as an animal model for future-thinking

“…Indeed, some patterns of overeating share important similarities with drug dependence (Davis and Carter, 2009). Obese women tend to show more impulsive monetary intertemporal choice than do healthy controls (Weller et al, 2008), and individual differences in intertemporal choice moderate the predictive effects of food reinforcement on consumption in non-obese women (Rollins et al, 2010; see also Epstein et al, 2014). Priming future-thinking appears to reduce impulsivity in intertemporal choice similarly in obese and non-obese individuals (Daniel et al, 2013), and so might also reduce those behaviours that directly contribute to obesity.…”

Supporting Large Scale Nutrition Analysis Based on Dietry Survey Data

“…For example, the Food Works system designed by The Nutrition Company enables individual users to track 24-hour dietary recall, multiple-day records, recipes and menus, which has aided in research on energy intake [17]. Likewise, SuperTracker's consumer-oriented website is also focused on individual-level food tracking and nutrition analysis [22].…”