The effects of overfeeding on the neuronal response to visual food cues in thin and reduced-obese individuals.
BACKGROUND
The regulation of energy intake is a complex process involving the integration of homeostatic signals and both internal and external sensory inputs. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of short-term overfeeding on the neuronal response to food-related visual stimuli in individuals prone and resistant to weight gain.


RESULTS
22 thin and 19 reduced-obese (RO) individuals were studied. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in the fasted state after two days of eucaloric energy intake and after two days of 30% overfeeding in a counterbalanced design. fMRI was performed while subjects viewed images of foods of high hedonic value and neutral non-food objects. In the eucaloric state, food as compared to non-food images elicited significantly greater activation of insula and inferior visual cortex in thin as compared to RO individuals. Two days of overfeeding led to significant attenuation of not only insula and visual cortex responses but also of hypothalamus response in thin as compared to RO individuals.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings emphasize the important role of food-related visual cues in ingestive behavior and suggest that there are important phenotypic differences in the interactions between external visual sensory inputs, energy balance status, and brain regions involved in the regulation of energy intake. Furthermore, alterations in the neuronal response to food cues may relate to the propensity to gain weight.
Cornier
Marc-Andre
MA
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America. marc.cornier@ucdenver.edu
Salzberg
Andrea K
AK
Endly
Dawnielle C
DC
Bessesen
Daniel H
DH
Rojas
Donald C
DC
Tregellas
Jason R
JR
D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite; D004435:Eating; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology*