The way to her heart? Response to romantic cues is dependent on hunger state and dieting history: An fMRI pilot study

• Published in: Appetite Vol. 95; pp. 126 - 131
• Main Authors: Ely, Alice V., Childress, Anna Rose, Jagannathan, Kanchana, Lowe, Michael R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping - methods; Cues; Diet - psychology; Dieting; Fasting - physiology; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Female; fMRI; Humans; Hunger - physiology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Pilot Projects; Reward; Romantic cues; Young Adult; fMRI; Reward; Dieting; Romantic cues
• ISSN: 0195-6663; 1095-8304
• DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.06.022

Normal weight historical dieters (HDs) are prone to future weight gain, and show higher levels of brain activation in reward-related regions after having eaten than nondieters (NDs) in response to food stimuli (Ely, Childress, Jagannathan, & Lowe, 2014), a similar pattern to that seen in obesity. We hypothesized that HDs are differentially sensitive after eating to rewards in general, and thus extended prior findings by comparing the same groups' brain activation when viewing romantic pictures compared to neutral stimuli while being scanned in a blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI paradigm in a fasted and fed state. Results show that 1) in fed relative to fasted conditions, both HDs and NDs were more responsive in areas related to reward and 2) in HDs, greater fed versus fasted activation extended to areas linked to perception and goal-directed behavior. HDs relative to NDs were more responsive to romantic cues in the superior frontal gyrus when fasted and the middle temporal gyrus when fed. This pattern of response is similar to HDs' activation when viewing highly palatable food cues, and is consistent with research showing overlapping brain-based responses to sex, drugs and food.
•We explored reward response to romantic cues in individuals with a history of dieting versus nondieters.•We compared fMRI BOLD activation between groups and within groups during fasted and fed conditions.•Historical dieters (HDs) show greater response than nondieters both when fasted and when fed.•HDs show increased response in reward-related regions after having eaten than when fasted.