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Neurocorrelates of Deciding How Much Ice Cream to Eat During an Eating Episode
Abstract   Open access   Peer reviewed

Neurocorrelates of Deciding How Much Ice Cream to Eat During an Eating Episode

Jennifer Nasser, Lisa Lanza, Eram Albajri, Angelo Del Parigi and Hasan Ayaz
Frontiers in human neuroscience, v 12
2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.227.00113
url
https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.227.00113View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Introduction: Given the current obesity epidemic, the question of why some individuals are able to control their food intake and others are not is very timely. fMRI imaging studies suggest that individuals who are obese have less post-ingestive activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) compared to individuals who are lean. This promotes greater eating frequency with no reduction in amount eaten per episode. Of all the macronutrients, protein is known to have a stronger effect on satiation (ending of the eating episode) and satiety (period between eating episodes). Using fNIRS we ask the question “what is the relationship of PFC activation during eating to amount of food eaten after consuming low (2 gram) or high (28 gram) protein reloads?” Background: In a study of eating preferred versus non-preferred food, we assessed PFC activation (by fNIRS) during eating after a 2-3 hour fast, and found that the relative magnitude of medial prefrontal cortex activity (mPFC) versus lPFC activity during eating (mPFC > lPFC) is associated with greater food intake. This raises the second question of whether the PFC activity is in response to food eaten, or amount of food eaten is in response to differences in regional PFC activation. We hypothesize the later. Approach/Methods: We examined the data obtained from a fNIRS study of the effect of protein preload on PFC activation during consumption of ice cream to see whether PFC activation influences food intake, or food intake influences brain activation. Briefly, the protein preload study involved twenty-nine healthy individuals (15 men, 14 women) participating in two sessions separated by at least two days. Women were only tested in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle as this is a time of greater food craving and we anticipated having greater sensitivity to detect an effect during this cycle phase. During the test session, participants consumed a 120kcal liquid dairy based preload of bovine milk protein with chocolate flavoring, delivered as 8 ounces of liquid within five minutes. (Order of preload consumption was randomized.) After consuming the preload, participants rested for fifteen minutes and then were fitted with the fNIRS sensory band and a two minute baseline was recorded. Participants were then allowed to consume ice cream ad libitum for ten minutes with continuous fNIRS recording. Participants completed the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire to determine cognitive restraint tendency at the end of the second test session. Data Analysis: We separately compared the time to peak activity for both mPFC and lPFC versus the total eating time in individuals for both the LP and HP preload conditions using Repeated Measures ANOVA. Additionally, we examined the effects of cognitive restraint (CR), BMI and sex on time to peak m and lPFC activation, and total eating time using regression analysis. Food was weighed before and after the test session to determine amount consumed.

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