title: Pre-surgical cortical activation to food pictures is associated with weight loss following bariatric surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent research suggests that preintervention functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data may predict weight loss outcomes among patients who participate in a behavioral weight loss plan. No study has examined whether presurgical brain activation can predict outcomes following bariatric surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of the present study was to determine if brain activations during a presurgical fMRI food-motivation paradigm are associated with weight loss 3 and 6 months following laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). Nineteen participants viewed food and nonfood pictures from a well-established food motivation paradigm during an fMRI scanning session before LAGB surgery. Weight was assessed presurgery and 3 and 6 months postsurgery; data for all participants was available at each time point. fMRI data were analyzed using the BrainVoyager QX statistical package. Whole brain voxelwise correlations of presurgery (food-nonfood) brain activation and weight, corrected for multiple comparisons, were performed to analyze the relationship between presurgical brain activation and subsequent weight loss. The settings were a medical university brain imaging center and 2 surgical weight loss centers in a major metropolitan area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increased activity in frontal regions associated with cognitive control (medial, middle, superior frontal gyrus) and posterior cingulate cortex was associated with weight loss following LAGB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that neural activity in previously established regions associated with cognitive and behavioral self-regulation predicts weight loss following bariatric surgery. These preliminary findings highlight the role of neural circuitry in the success and maintenance of weight loss and suggest a possible future use of fMRI in screening LAGB surgery candidates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ness
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri. Electronic address: brucejm@umkc.edu.
authors.forename: Jared
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center and Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aupperle
authors.affiliation: Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lepping
authors.affiliation: Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas; Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Behavior Neuroscience, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
authors.forename: Trisha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patrician
authors.affiliation: Malley Surgical Weight Loss Center, Mission, Kansas.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malley
authors.affiliation: Department of Endoscopic/Bariatric Surgery, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
authors.forename: Niazy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Selim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
authors.forename: Cary R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Savage
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005502:Food; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D010781:Photography; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Bariatric surgery; Baseline predictor; Functional MRI; Neural mechanisms; Neuroimaging; Weight loss