Greater anterior cingulate activation and connectivity in response to visual and auditory high-calorie food cues in binge eating: Preliminary findings.
Obese individuals show altered neural responses to high-calorie food cues. Individuals with binge eating [BE], who exhibit heightened impulsivity and emotionality, may show a related but distinct pattern of irregular neural responses. However, few neuroimaging studies have compared BE and non-BE groups. To examine neural responses to food cues in BE, 10 women with BE and 10 women without BE (non-BE) who were matched for obesity (5 obese and 5 lean in each group) underwent fMRI scanning during presentation of visual (picture) and auditory (spoken word) cues representing high energy density (ED) foods, low-ED foods, and non-foods. We then compared regional brain activation in BE vs. non-BE groups for high-ED vs. low-ED foods. To explore differences in functional connectivity, we also compared psychophysiologic interactions [PPI] with dorsal anterior cingulate cortex [dACC] for BE vs. non-BE groups. Region of interest (ROI) analyses revealed that the BE group showed more activation than the non-BE group in the dACC, with no activation differences in the striatum or orbitofrontal cortex [OFC]. Exploratory PPI analyses revealed a trend towards greater functional connectivity with dACC in the insula, cerebellum, and supramarginal gyrus in the BE vs. non-BE group. Our results suggest that women with BE show hyper-responsivity in the dACC as well as increased coupling with other brain regions when presented with high-ED cues. These differences are independent of body weight, and appear to be associated with the BE phenotype.
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Department of Psychology, Touro College and University System, New York, NY, USA.
Allan
A
Geliebter
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Leora
L
Benson
Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology Division, New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, USA.
Spiro P
SP
Pantazatos
Department of Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Joy
J
Hirsch
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: susan.carnell@jhmi.edu.
Susan
S
Carnell
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003463:Cues; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
Conflict processing; Dietary restraint; Food cue reactivity; Food reward; Neuroimaging