title: Circulating glucose levels modulate neural control of desire for high-calorie foods in humans.
abstract: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic resulting in part from the ubiquity of high-calorie foods and food images. Whether obese and nonobese individuals regulate their desire to consume high-calorie foods differently is not clear. We set out to investigate the hypothesis that circulating levels of glucose, the primary fuel source for the brain, influence brain regions that regulate the motivation to consume high-calorie foods. Using functional MRI (fMRI) combined with a stepped hyperinsulinemic euglycemic-hypoglycemic clamp and behavioral measures of interest in food, we have shown here that mild hypoglycemia preferentially activates limbic-striatal brain regions in response to food cues to produce a greater desire for high-calorie foods. In contrast, euglycemia preferentially activated the medial prefrontal cortex and resulted in less interest in food stimuli. Indeed, higher circulating glucose levels predicted greater medial prefrontal cortex activation, and this response was absent in obese subjects. These findings demonstrate that circulating glucose modulates neural stimulatory and inhibitory control over food motivation and suggest that this glucose-linked restraining influence is lost in obesity. Strategies that temper postprandial reductions in glucose levels might reduce the risk of overeating, particularly in environments inundated with visual cues of high-calorie foods.
authors.affiliation: Section of Endocrinology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8020, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Dongju
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belfort-DeAguiar
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lacadie
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dzuira
authors.forename: Sarita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: Suma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amarnath
authors.forename: R Todd
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Constable
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sherwin
authors.forename: Rajita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology; D001069:Appetite Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D015309:Glucose Clamp Technique; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger / Q000502:physiology; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose