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Eating in the absence of hunger in young children is related to brain reward network hyperactivity and reduced functional connectivity in executive control networks
Author(s) -
Shapiro Allison L. B.,
Johnson Susan L.,
Sutton Brianne,
Legget Kristina T.,
Dabelea Dana,
Tregellas Jason R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
pediatric obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.226
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 2047-6310
pISSN - 2047-6302
DOI - 10.1111/ijpo.12502
Subject(s) - overeating , nucleus accumbens , functional magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , obesity , striatum , ventral striatum , prefrontal cortex , default mode network , reward system , neuroscience , calorie , population , developmental psychology , psychology , psychiatry , dopamine , cognition , environmental health
Summary Background Recent work has implicated disinhibited eating behaviours (DEB) as a potential pathway toward obesity development in children. However, the underlying neurobiology of disinhibited eating behaviours in young, healthy weight children, prior to obesity development, remains unknown. Objectives This study tested the relationship between DEB and intrinsic neuronal activity and connectivity in young children without obesity. Methods Brain networks implicated in overeating including reward, salience and executive control networks, and the default mode network were investigated. DEB was measured by the eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) paradigm with postlunch kilocalories consumed from highly palatable foods (EAH kcal) used as the predictor. Intrinsic neuronal activity within and connectivity between specified networks were measured via resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Eighteen typically developing children (mean age = 5.8 years) were included. Results EAH kcal was positively associated with activity of the nucleus accumbens, a major reward network hub ( P < 0.05, corrected). EAH kcal was negatively associated with intrinsic prefrontal cortex connectivity to the striatum ( P < 0.01, corrected). Conclusions These results suggest that neural aspects of DEB are detectable in young children without obesity, providing a potential tool to better understand the development of obesity in this population.