title: Brain networks associated with cognitive and hedonic responses to a meal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We recently reported interrelated digestive, cognitive, and hedonic responses to a meal. The aim of this study was to identify brain networks related to the hedonic response to eating.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight healthy subjects (20-38 age range) were evaluated after a 5-hour fast and after ingestion of a test meal (juice and warm ham and cheese sandwich, 300 mL, 425 kcal). Perceptual and affective responses (satiety, abdominal fullness, digestive well-being, and positive mood), and resting scans of the brain using functional MRI (3T Trio, Siemens, Germany) were evaluated immediately before and after the test meal. A high-order group independent component analysis was performed to investigate ingestion-related changes in the intrinsic connectivity of brain networks, with a focus on thalamic and insular networks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ingestion induced satiation (3.3±0.4 score increase; P<.001) and abdominal fullness (2.4±0.3 score increase; P<.001). These sensations included an affective dimension involving digestive well-being (2.8±0.3 score increase; P<.001) and positive mood (1.8±0.2 score increase; P<.001). In general, thalamo-cortical connectivity increased with meal ingestion while insular-cortical connectivity mainly decreased. Furthermore, larger meal-induced changes (increase/decrease) in specific thalamic connections were associated with smaller changes in satiety/fullness. In contrast, a larger meal-induced decrease in insular-anterior cingulate cortex connectivity was associated with increased satiety, fullness, and digestive well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Perceptual and emotional responses to food intake are related to brain connectivity in defined functional networks. Brain imaging may provide objective biomarkers of subjective effects of meal ingestion.
authors.affiliation: Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Madrid, Spain.|Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pribic
authors.affiliation: G Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Division of Digestive Diseases, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.affiliation: Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Madrid, Spain.|Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ciccantelli
authors.affiliation: Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Madrid, Spain.|Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malagelada
authors.affiliation: Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Madrid, Spain.|Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Accarino
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rovira
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pareto
authors.affiliation: G Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Division of Digestive Diseases, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Madrid, Spain.|Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7327-960X
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Azpiroz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004435:Eating; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D019518:Postprandial Period; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: brain imaging; hedonic response; meal ingestion; postprandial sensations