title: Gain in Body Fat Is Associated with Increased Striatal Response to Palatable Food Cues, whereas Body Fat Stability Is Associated with Decreased Striatal Response.
abstract: Cross-sectional brain-imaging studies reveal that obese versus lean humans show greater responsivity of reward and attention regions to palatable food cues, but lower responsivity of reward regions to palatable food receipt. However, these individual differences in responsivity may result from a period of overeating. We conducted a repeated-measures fMRI study to test whether healthy weight adolescent humans who gained body fat over a 2 or 3 year follow-up period show an increase in responsivity of reward and attention regions to a cue signaling impending milkshake receipt and a simultaneous decrease in responsivity of reward regions to milkshake receipt versus adolescents who showed stability of or loss of body fat. Adolescents who gained body fat, who largely remained in a healthy weight range, showed increases in activation in the putamen, mid-insula, Rolandic operculum, and precuneus to a cue signaling impending milkshake receipt versus those who showed stability of or loss of body fat, though these effects were partially driven by reductions in responsivity among the latter groups. Adolescents who gained body fat reported significantly greater milkshake wanting and milkshake pleasantness ratings at follow-up compared to those who lost body fat. Adolescents who gained body fat did not show a reduction in responsivity of reward regions to milkshake receipt or changes in responsivity to receipt and anticipated receipt of monetary reward. Data suggest that initiating a prolonged period of overeating may increase striatal responsivity to food cues, and that maintaining a balance between caloric intake and expenditure may reduce striatal, insular, and Rolandic operculum responsivity.
  
  
  
  This novel, repeated-measures brain-imaging study suggests that adolescents who gained body fat over our follow-up period experienced an increase in striatal responsivity to cues for palatable foods compared to those who showed stability of or loss of body fat. Results also imply that maintaining a balance between caloric intake and expenditure over time may reduce striatal, insular, and Rolandic operculum responsivity to food cues, which might decrease risk for future overeating.
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, Oregon, 97403 estice@ori.org.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stice
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, Oregon, 97403.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokum
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012201:Reward; D064232:Visual Analog Scale
keywords: body fat gain; food cue; food receipt; incentive sensitization; long-term follow-up; repeated-measures fMRI