Brain reactivity to visual food stimuli after moderate-intensity exercise in children

Abstract

Exercise may play a role in moderating eating behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an acute bout of exercise on neural responses to visual food stimuli in children ages 8-11 years. We hypothesized that acute exercise would result in reduced activity in reward areas of the brain. Using a randomized cross-over design, 26 healthy weight children completed two separate laboratory conditions (exercise; sedentary). During the exercise condition, each participant completed a 30-min bout of exercise at moderate-intensity (~ 67% HR maximum) on a motor-driven treadmill. During the sedentary session, participants sat continuously for 30 min. Neural responses to high- and low-calorie pictures of food were determined immediately following each condition using functional magnetic resonance imaging. There was a significant exercise condition*stimulus-type (high- vs. low-calorie pictures) interaction in the left hippocampus and right medial temporal lobe (p < 0.05). Main effects of exercise condition were observed in the left posterior central gyrus (reduced activation after exercise) (p < 0.05) and the right anterior insula (greater activation after exercise) (p < 0.05). The left hippocampus, right medial temporal lobe, left posterior central gyrus, and right anterior insula appear to be activated by visual food stimuli differently following an acute bout of exercise compared to a non-exercise sedentary session in 8-11 year-old children. Specifically, an acute bout of exercise results in greater activation to high-calorie and reduced activation to low-calorie pictures of food in both the left hippocampus and right medial temporal lobe. This study shows that response to external food cues can be altered by exercise and understanding this mechanism will inform the development of future interventions aimed at altering energy intake in children.

The effects of physical activity on brain structure and neurophysiological functioning in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…These 37 articles were further assessed for eligibility based on full-texts, after which 23 articles met all inclusion criteria. Two studies were excluded because of contaminating factors such as no sufficient intensity of the physical activity intervention (relaxation; Chan et al, 2015 ) or the assessment of neurophysiological functioning in relation to the processing of food stimuli ( Masterson et al, 2018 ). Finally, a total of 26 articles was included in the narrative review, of which 20 articles were suitable for meta-analysis.…”

Homeostatic and neurocognitive control of energy intake in response to exercise in pediatric obesity: a psychobiological framework

“…Using fMRI, Masterson et al . lately examined the effect of an acute bout of exercise on neural responses to food stimuli (low‐calorie vs. high‐calorie) in children aged 8–11 years . According to their results, a 30‐min bout of running exercise (using a treadmill) at moderate‐intensity (~ 67% HR maximum) resulted in an interaction with greater activation to high calorie foods and reduced activation for low‐calorie foods in lean children .…”

To play or not to play? The relationship between active video game play and electrophysiological indices of food‐related inhibitory control in adolescents

“…A possible way physical activity may affect eating behaviors is through cognitive processes that are related to food intake. Neuroimaging studies provide quantitative measurements of neural correlates of appetite and food intake (English et al., 2019; Hollman et al., 2012; Holsen et al., 2005; Masterson et al., 2018). For example, studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) report that acute bouts of physical activity reduce neural responses to images of food in reward regions of the brain and increases activity to high‐calorie, compared to low‐calorie, images potentially suggesting increased inhibition or food‐related cognitive control (Evero et al., 2012; Masterson et al., 2018).…”