Reward-related neural correlates in adolescents with excess body weight

Bhutani, Surabhi; Christian, Isaac Ray; Palumbo, Danielle; Wiggins, Jillian Lee

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102618

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Finally, 51 participants were selected in the NW group, and 39 (overweight, 18; obesity, 21) were selected in the OW group. Since BMI percentiles are non-linear, age-and sex-speci c BMI z-scores were calculated for statistical analyses (Bhutani et al, 2021; Wang & Chen, 2012).…”

Section: Bmi and Who Weight Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered hippocampal effective connectivity predicts BMI and food approach behavior in children with obesity

Chen,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Objective The vicious circle model of obesity proposes that the hippocampus plays a crucial role in food reward processing and obesity. However, few studies focused on whether and how pediatric obesity influences the potential direction of information exchange between hippocampus and key regions, as well as whether these alterations in neural interaction could predict future BMI and eating behaviors. Methods In this longitudinal study, a total of 39 children with overweight/obesity and 51 children with normal weight, aged 8 to 12, underwent resting-state fMRI. One year later, we conducted follow-up assessments of eating behaviors and BMI. Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and spectral dynamic casual modeling technique were used to examine altered functional and effective connectivity (EC) of the hippocampus in children with overweight/obesity. Linear support vector regression, a machine learning method, was employed to investigate whether hippocampal connections at baseline could predict future BMI and eating behaviors. Results Compared to controls, children with overweight/obesity displayed abnormal bidirectional inhibitory effects between the right hippocampus and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG), namely, stronger inhibitory EC from the hippocampus to PoCG but weaker inhibitory EC from the PoCG to hippocampus, which further predicted BMI and food approach behavior one year later. Conclusion These findings suggest that imbalanced information exchange in the appetitive reward circuitry between the hippocampus to somatosensory cortex may be a sensitive neurobiomarker for childhood obesity and future food approach behavior, which expands the vicious circle model of obesity by revealing the crucial role of hippocampal undirectional and directional connections in childhood obesity. This study is essential for developing effective intervention strategies and for reducing long-term health-care costs associated with obesity.

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Section: Bmi and Who Weight Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered hippocampal effective connectivity predicts BMI and food approach behavior in children with obesity

Chen,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most previous research on the relationship between body weight and neural reward processing has investigated small sample sizes (García-García et al, 2014;Han et al, 2021) and typically either compared individuals with obesity with a normal weight control group (Han et al, 2021;Opel et al, 2015) or made no distinction between overweight and obese weight groups (García-García et al, 2014;Meng et al, 2020). Studies that consider the entire BMI range in larger samples do not typically investigate whether the effects occur as a function of higher body weight, or whether they are driven by a particular weight group (Beyer et al, 2021;Bhutani et al, 2021). Nevertheless, a non-linear relationship between reward sensitivity and body weight has long been discussed, though the direction of effects has not been uniform across investigations, with some authors describing blunted reward response in individuals with obesity (Davis & Fox, 2008;Horstmann et al, 2015) -hypothesizing that individuals overeat to compensate for the reduced neural reward response.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher body weight-dependent neural activation during reward processing

Richter

Widera

Malz

et al. 2023

Brain Imaging and Behavior

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Obesity is associated with alterations in brain structure and function, particularly in areas related to reward processing. Although brain structural investigations have demonstrated a continuous association between higher body weight and reduced gray matter in well-powered samples, functional neuroimaging studies have typically only contrasted individuals from the normal weight and obese body mass index (BMI) ranges with modest sample sizes. It remains unclear, whether the commonly found hyperresponsiveness of the reward circuit can (a) be replicated in well-powered studies and (b) be found as a function of higher body weight even below the threshold of clinical obesity. 383 adults across the weight spectrum underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a common card-guessing paradigm simulating monetary reward. Multiple regression was used to investigate the association of BMI and neural activation in the reward circuit. In addition, a one-way ANOVA model comparing three weight groups (normal weight, overweight, obese) was calculated. Higher BMI was associated with higher reward response in the bilateral insula. This association could no longer be found when participants with obesity were excluded from the analysis. The ANOVA revealed higher activation in obese vs. lean, but no difference between lean and overweight participants. The overactivation of reward-related brain areas in obesity is a consistent finding that can be replicated in large samples. In contrast to brain structural aberrations associated with higher body weight, the neurofunctional underpinnings of reward processing in the insula appear to be more pronounced in the higher body weight range.

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