Food cue-induced craving in individuals with bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder

Abstract

Individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge-eating disorder (BED) experience more frequent and intense food cravings than individuals without binge eating. However, it is currently unclear whether they also show larger food cue-induced increases in craving (i.e., food cue reactivity) than those without binge eating, as suggested by conditioning theories of binge eating. A group of individuals with BN or BED (binge-eating group, n = 27) and a group of individuals with low trait food craving scores and without binge eating (control group, n = 19) reported their current food craving before and after a food cue exposure. Although food craving intensity significantly increased in both groups, this increase was significantly stronger in the binge-eating group than in the control group. This result is in line with conditioning models of binge eating that propose that food cues are conditioned stimuli that elicit a conditioned response (e.g., food craving) and that this association is stronger in individuals with binge eating. As food craving increased in individuals with low trait food craving scores as well—although to a lesser extent—previous null results might be explained by methodological considerations such as not screening control participants for trait food craving.

Combining cognitive bias modification training (CBM) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to treat binge eating disorder: study protocol of a randomised controlled feasibility trial

“…This tendency to approach and consume palatable food items may thus be compounded by a greater sensitivity to reward and a decreased capacity to inhibit action tendencies. This is corroborated by the recent finding that individuals with BED or BN show higher food cue reactivity (increased cravings) when exposed to visual food cues compared with healthy controls 41. Such accumulating evidence of BED as a unique diagnostic group situates it as a distinct phenotype within the obesity spectrum that is characterised by increased impulsivity 42…”

“…The Food Challenge Task41 will be used to examine cue-induced food craving. In this task, participants rate their state food craving using the Food Cravings Questionnaire State Version91 92 before and after being presented with a video on a computer screen of foods shown to be highly appetising 93.…”

Twenty Years of the Food Cravings Questionnaires: a Comprehensive Review

“…If such conditions are kept constant across measurement points, it may well be that retest-reliability for the FCQ-S is high. More importantly, however, is that the FCQ-S is sensitive to change during various manipulations: scores increase during food cue exposure (e.g., food pictures) or exposure to real food [52,54,[56][57][58][59][60][61] and decrease after exercise [62], methylphenidate ingestion [63], repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [64,65], infraslow neurofeedback training [66], and food intake [11,23,59].…”

Volumetric and connectivity changes in brain networks associated with reward sensitivity, cognitive control, and negative affect in binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa

“…craving) through Pavlovian conditioning. This so-called food cue reactivity seems to be stronger in binging disorders compared with healthy controls (HC) (Meule et al, 2018). People with binging disorders are also characterized by other deficits that involve Pavlovian conditioning principles.…”