title: Adolescent brain activation: dependence on sex, dietary satiation, and restraint.
abstract: The study aimed to explore how both sex and dietary restraint impacts brain activation in response to visual food stimuli in young adolescents (12-13 years) under fed and fasted conditions. Food and non-food images were viewed by 15 boys and 14 girls, while functional magnetic resonance images were acquired. The adolescents were either fasted or in a satiated (fed) state following a randomized crossover study design. When satiation state was not considered, girls showed significantly greater brain activity than boys in regions associated with executive function and decision making, working memory, and self-awareness. In contrast, when either fasted or fed states were considered separately, boys showed significantly increased brain activity in regions linked to executive function, self-awareness, and decision making than the girls. When fasted, compared to unrestrained eaters, restrained individuals showed heightened activation in regions connected to executive function and decision making, with areas associated with self-assessment showing increased activity for unrestrained eaters relative to restrained under fed conditions. These findings highlight important differences in adolescent brain activity and support further investigations to gain greater insight into how these differences might evolve with age.
authors.affiliation: a Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, Sport and Health Sciences, St Luke's Campus , University of Exeter , Heavitree Road, EX1 2LU , UK.
authors.forename: Joanna L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8980-0255
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Varley-Campbell
authors.affiliation: b Exeter NIHR Clinical Research Facility, University of Exeter Medical School , University of Exeter , EX1 2LU , UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5945-1688
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fulford
authors.affiliation: c School of Health Professions , Plymouth University , Devon , PL6 8BH , UK.
authors.forename: Melanie S
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0152-7448
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: a Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, Sport and Health Sciences, St Luke's Campus , University of Exeter , Heavitree Road, EX1 2LU , UK.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1740-6248
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001364:Awareness; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D004032:Diet; D056344:Executive Function; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D012527:Satiation; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Children; Fasted; Fed; Gender; Restrained; fMRI