Comparison of women with high vs. low food addiction tendency: a pilot study with voxel-based morphometry

Abstract

Background: The concept of 'food addiction' (FA) posits that highly processed food with added fat and/or refined carbohydrates is capable of triggering addictive-like eating behavior. FA may be one possible phenotype in obesity. Methods: The present voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study compared data from three groups of women. One group scored high on the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and was overweight (n = 21), whereas the two other groups had low YFAS scores and were either overweight (n = 21) or normal-weight (n = 21). Results: Overweight women with high YFAS scores had less grey matter volume (GMV) in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than overweight women with low FA tendency, who in turn had less GMV in the IFG than the normal-weight group. The IFG is involved in response inhibition, which is relevant for the control of appetite and food intake. In the group with high FA tendency, the frequency of binge episodes was substantially correlated with the YFAS scores, and 11 women of this group were diagnosed with binge-eating disorder (BED). The association between IFG volume and YFAS scores was not statistically significant anymore when controlling for the effect of binge frequency as revealed by partial correlation analysis. Conclusion: This VBM study revealed an association between reported FA tendency and a neural correlate of disinhibited eating. Future studies with bigger sample sizes are needed in order to demonstrate that FA is sufficiently different from existing conditions (e.g., BED) to warrant classification as a distinct disease phenotype.

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Binge-Eating Behavior: At the Roots of Unstoppable Eating

“…The involvement of the left DLPFC has been previously described in overeating as a key region for inhibitory control processes [ 42 ]; for instance, low levels of activation in the left DLPFC have been linked to impaired goal-oriented behavior and uncontrolled eating in obesity [ 23 ]. Whereas, the MFG regional volumes have been associated to disinhibition toward food in normal and over-weight adults [ 14 ] and with increased BMI after one year in young females, suggesting a role of this region in weight gain [ 43 ]. The reason for our results showing greater GMV in this region, however, deserves further exploration.…”

“…Along with fMRI evidence, recent structural MRI studies supported a significant connection between eating behavior, weight condition and brain cortex morphometry in prefrontal regions [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the left prefrontal regions (including the dorsolateral PFC, DLPFC and Inferior Frontal Gyrus, IFG) was reported in individuals with obesity [ 13 ] and overweight women with food addiction (i.e, an addictive-like eating of highly processed food) [ 14 ]. Consistently, GMV in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) has been found to be negatively correlated with disinhibition toward food and positively correlated with hunger scores (i.e., the intensity of hunger sensations and the extent to which such sensations induce eating) [ 15 ].…”

“…Consistently, GMV in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) has been found to be negatively correlated with disinhibition toward food and positively correlated with hunger scores (i.e., the intensity of hunger sensations and the extent to which such sensations induce eating) [ 15 ]. Altogether, these findings might indicate that a reduced GMV in PFC regions is linked to an enhanced tendency to lose control over food [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Hence, the evidence seems to speak in favor of a role of the PFC, and possibly the DLPFC, at the roots of food craving [ 16 ] and as a possible hallmark and risk factor for weight gain [ 11 ].…”

Early life adversity impacts alterations in brain structure and food addiction in individuals with high BMI

“…The "reward control" signature refers to the extended reward network containing regions that generally influence/control the core reward system 16 . Compared to those with no food addiction, structural and resting-state neuroimaging studies in individuals with high BMI and food addiction showed lower grey matter volume and lower connectivity in the inferior frontal gyrus, a region involved in response inhibition and appetite control 17,18 . In addition, compared to healthy controls, patients with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa showed distinct morphometry in the reward regions, such as decreased grey matter volume in the dorsal striatum/caudate nucleus 19 .…”