Neuroanatomical correlates of food addiction symptoms and body mass index in the general population

Abstract

The food addiction model suggests neurobiological similarities between substance‐related and addictive disorders and obesity. While structural brain differences have been consistently reported in these conditions, little is known about the neuroanatomical correlates of food addiction. We therefore aimed to determine whether symptoms of food addiction related to body mass index (BMI), personality, and brain structure in a large population‐based sample. Participants of the LIFE‐Adult study (n = 625; 20–59 years old, 45% women) answered the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and further personality measures, underwent anthropometric assessments and high‐resolution 3T‐neuroimaging. A higher YFAS symptom score correlated with higher BMI, eating behavior traits, neuroticism, and stress. Higher BMI predicted significantly lower thickness of (pre)frontal, temporal and occipital cortex and increased volume of left nucleus accumbens. In a whole‐brain analysis, YFAS symptom score was not associated with significant differences in cortical thickness or subcortical gray matter volumes. A hypothesis‐driven Bayes factor analysis suggested a small, additional contribution of YFAS symptom score to lower right lateral orbitofrontal cortex thickness over the effect of BMI. Our study indicates that symptoms of food addiction do not account for the major part of the structural brain differences associated with BMI in the general population. Yet, symptoms of food addiction might explain additional variance in orbitofrontal cortex, a hub area of the reward network. Longitudinal studies implementing both anatomical and functional MRI could further disentangle the neural mechanisms of addictive eating behaviors.

Food Addiction Mediates the Relationship between Perceived Stress and Body Mass Index in Taiwan Young Adults

“…Our results showed a positive relation between FA and BMI, which is consistent with other research [ 4 , 34 , 36 , 37 ]. Individuals who were overweight or with obesity had a higher relative risk of FA than those who were normal or underweight according to either BMI or body fat percentage measurement [ 33 ].…”

The Impact of Retrospective Childhood Maltreatment on Eating Disorders as Mediated by Food Addiction: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In a recent study aiming to characterizing FA as a phenotypical construct in patients with different types of EDs and obesity via a factor analysis, results suggested that patients with FA and BN presented with more severe ED psychopathology [ 32 ]. Moreover, other work suggested that, among women with a high BMI, the presence of a relationships between early life adversities and FA may be underpinned by specificities in brain regions implicated in reward and emotional regulation [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Similarly, patients with PTSD were described to be at higher risk for FA and EDs due to the potential mediating role of emotional dysregulation [ 36 ].…”

Combined effects of age and BMI are related to altered cortical thickness in adolescence and adulthood

“…Moreover, greater adiposity for age was related to increased thickness of the left fusiform cortex, extending to the lateral occipital lobe, and right lateral occipital cortex. Visceral fat mass has been positively related to bilateral occipital thickness in obese adolescents (Saute et al, 2016), and high BMI has been negatively associated with lateral occipital cortex thickness in several adult cohorts (Beyer et al, 2019; Medic et al, 2016). These findings broadly align with theories of altered visuospatial processing in obesity, where external cues are thought to override interoceptive signals (Schachter, 1968).…”