Inhibitory control effects in adolescent binge eating and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and snacks

Abstract

Inhibitory control and sensitivity to reward are relevant to the food choices individuals make frequently. An imbalance of these systems can lead to deficits in decision-making that are relevant to food ingestion. This study evaluated the relationship between dietary behaviors – binge eating and consumption of sweetened beverages and snacks - and behavioral control processes, among 198 ethnically diverse adolescents, ranging in age from 14 to 17, in Southern California. Neurocognitive control processes were assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task, a generic Go/No-Go task, and a food-specific Go/No-Go task. The food-specific Go/No-Go task directly ties the task to food cues that trigger responses, addressing an integral link between cue-habit processes. Dietary measures were assessed with self-administered food frequency and binge eating questionnaires. Results of latent variable models revealed marked gender differences. Inhibitory problems on the food-specific and generic Go/No-Go tasks were significantly correlated with binge eating only in females, whereas inhibitory problems measured with these tasks were the strongest correlates of sweet snack consumption in males. Higher BMI percentile and sedentary behavior also predicted binge eating in females and sweet snack consumption in males. Inhibitory problems on the generic Go/No-Go, poorer affective decision-making, assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task, and sedentary behavior were associated with sweetened beverage consumption in males, but not females. The food-specific Go/No-Go was not predictive in models evaluating sweetened beverage consumption, providing some initial discriminant validity for the task, which consisted of sweet/fatty snacks as no-go signals and no sugar-sweetened beverage signals. This research extends other study findings, revealing gender differences in inhibitory function relevant to behavioral control. Further, the findings contribute to research implicating the relevance of cues in habitual behaviors and their relationship to snack food consumption in an understudied population of diverse adolescents not receiving treatment for obesity or eating disorders.

Cytoplasmic FMR1-Interacting Protein 2 Is a Major Genetic Factor Underlying Binge Eating

“…Female F 2 mice wer more prone to BE ( Fig.2; FigS4A,B )(49-51) which is consistent with human studies(52) and could potentially be explained by the sweetened PF diet(51, 53), neurodevelopmental sex differences in the food reward circuitry and response to PF(54), activational effects of gonadal steroids(50, 52, 55), impulsivity(56), and/or neurobehavioral plasticity that underlies negative reinforcement(57). We did not observe sex differences in PF-CPP in F 2 mice ( Fig.S4C,D ); however, we did observe an increase in freezing episodes in female F 2 mice at 24 h post-BE that was specific to PF training ( Fig.S4F-H ).…”

Casein kinase 1‐epsilon deletion increases mu opioid receptor‐dependent behaviors and binge eating1

“…Sex differences in binge eating have previously been reported in humans and in rodent models, with women being at greater risk for bing eating disorder than men and female rodents showing a more rapid escalation and larger amount of food intake, in particular with SPF, than male rodents (Ames et al ., 2014, Asarian & Geary, 2013, Kirkpatrick et al ., 2016, Klump et al ., 2017). However, we are unaware of any previous studies reporting sex-specific genetic polymorphisms associated with risk for binge eating.…”

Prior alcohol consumption does not impair go/no-go discrimination learning, but causes over-responding on go trials, in rats

“…Human alcohol use is associated with impaired go/no-go discrimination learning. Detoxified alcoholics, heavy drinkers and people with higher alcohol use disorder scores exhibit impaired performance or abnormal patterns of reaction times in these tasks (Ames et al 2014;Kamarajan et al 2005).…”