title: Impulsivity toward food reward is related to BMI: Evidence from intertemporal choice in obese and normal-weight individuals.
abstract: Obesity is a medical condition frequently associated with psychopathological symptoms and neurocognitive and/or personality traits related to impulsivity. Impulsivity during intertemporal choices seems to be typical of obese individuals. However, so far, the specific relationship between different types of reward and neuropsychological and psychopathological profile are yet to be unravelled. Here, we investigated impulsive choice for primary and secondary reward in obese individuals and normal-weight controls with comparable neuropsychological and psychopathological status. Participants performed three intertemporal choice tasks involving food, money, and discount voucher, respectively. Moreover, they completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and psychometric questionnaires assessing psychopathological state, impulsivity, and personality traits. Obese individuals showed increased preference for immediate food reward compared with controls, whereas no group difference emerged concerning money and discount voucher. Moreover, the higher the body mass index (BMI), the steeper the food discounting. These findings emerged in light of comparable neuropsychological and psychopathological profile between groups. Steeper food discounting in obese individuals appears to be related to BMI but not to psychopathological and neuropsychological profile. We suggest using intertemporal choice in the clinical practice as measure of the effectiveness of different types of intervention (e.g., educational, psychological, pharmacological or surgical) aimed at reducing impulsivity toward food and increasing cognitive control during food intake in obese individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padova, Italy. Electronic address: sami.schiff@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiff
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amodio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.affiliation: Veneto Institute of Oncology - IOV IRCCS, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariateresa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montagnese
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caregaro
authors.affiliation: Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: di Pellegrino
authors.affiliation: Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy; Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Department of Biological Psychology, Germany. Electronic address: Manuela.Sellitto@psychol.uni-giessen.de.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sellitto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D065786:Delay Discounting / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012201:Reward; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BMI; Executive functions; Food reward; Impulsivity; Obesity; Psychopathology; Temporal discounting