title: Greater perceived ability to form vivid mental images in individuals with high compared to low BMI.
abstract: Obese individuals report more frequent food cravings than their lean counterparts. Since mental imagery plays a role in eliciting and maintaining craving we hypothesized that one's ability to image may be associated with body mass index (BMI) and account, at least in part, for the association between BMI and craving. Twenty-five participants (BMI range: 17.7 kg/m(2)-34.2 kg/m(2)) completed three measures of perceived mental imagery ability (The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, The Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire, The Vividness of Food Imagery Questionnaire), and one measure of craving (Food-Craving Inventory). As predicted, correlation analyses revealed positive associations between BMI and perceived ability to image odors and foods, but not visual objects. Olfactory imagery was singled out as the best predictor of BMI in a hierarchical regression analysis. A second experiment with 57 participants (BMI range: 19.1 kg/m(2)-38.7 kg/m(2)) then confirmed the significant positive association between BMI and perceived ability to image odors. These results raise the possibility that imagery ability may play a role in the heightened food cue reactivity observed in obese individuals.
authors: The John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Barkha P
authors: BP
authors: Patel
authors: The John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Katja
authors: K
authors: Aschenbrenner
authors: The John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Shamah
authors: The John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Interdepartmental Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: dsmall@jbpierce.org.
authors: Dana M
authors: DM
authors: Small
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite; D001288:Attention; D015992:Body Mass Index; D066249:Craving; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009812:Odorants; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D010465:Perception; D012677:Sensation; D012903:Smell; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mass index; Craving; Elaborated Intrusion Theory; Hedonic impact; Mental imagery; Olfactory imagery ability