Regional brain response to visual food cues is a marker of satiety that predicts food choice

Abstract Background Preclinical studies demonstrated that glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is locally synthesized in taste bud cells and that GLP-1 receptor exists on the gustatory nerves in close proximity to GLP-1-containing taste bud cells. This local paracrine GLP-1 signalling seems to be specifically involved in the perception of sweets. However, the role of GLP-1 in taste perception remains largely unaddressed in clinical studies. Whether any weight-reducing effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists are mediated through the modulation of taste perception is currently unknown. Methods and analysis This is an investigator-initiated, randomized single-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. We will enrol 30 women with obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either semaglutide 1.0 mg or placebo for 16 weeks. The primary endpoints are alteration of transcriptomic profile of tongue tissue as changes in expression level from baseline to follow-up after 16 weeks of treatment, measured by RNA sequencing, and change in taste sensitivity as detected by chemical gustometry. Secondary endpoints include change in neural response to visual food cues and to sweet-tasting substances as assessed by functional MRI, change in body weight, change in fat mass and change in eating behaviour and food intake. Discussion This is the first study to investigate the role of semaglutide on taste perception, along with a neural response to visual food cues in reward processing regions. The study may identify the tongue and the taste perception as a novel target for GLP-1 receptor agonists. Ethics and disseminations The study has been approved by the Slovene National Medical Ethics Committee and will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice guidelines. Results will be submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.govNCT04263415. Retrospectively registered on 10 February 2020

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Acute diet soda consumption alters brain responses to food cues in humans: A randomized, controlled, cross-over pilot study

Nutrition and Health ◽

10.1177/0260106021993753 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026010602199375

Author(s):

Olivia M. Farr

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Potential Mechanism ◽

Food Cues ◽

Diet Soda ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Carbonated Water ◽

Soda Consumption ◽

Visual Food Cues

Background: Diet soda consumption has frequently been linked to obesity and its comorbidities in epidemiological studies. Whether this link is causal and a potential mechanism remains to be determined. Aim/Methods: This randomized, cross-over, controlled pilot study sought to determine whether there may be changes in reward-related brain activations to visual food cues after acute consumption of diet soda versus regular soda or carbonated water using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Diet soda as compared to carbonated water consumption increased activation of reward-related caudate to highly versus less desirable food cues. Diet soda as compared to regular soda increased reward-related insula and decreased activation of cognitive control-related dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to food cues versus non-food cues. No changes in ratings of hunger an hour after beverage consumption were observed. Conclusions: These results may suggest a potential mechanism for diet soda to increase food palatability through activation of the reward system and suppression of inhibitory control that remains to be confirmed by future studies.

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The processing of visual food cues during bitter aftertaste perception in females with high vs. low disgust propensity: an fMRI study

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-021-00455-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Schienle ◽

Albert Wabnegger

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Critical Role ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Conflict Monitoring ◽

Food Cues ◽

Sweet Food ◽

Visual Food Cues ◽

Disgust Propensity

AbstractAn extremely bitter taste can signal food spoilage, and therefore typically elicits disgust. The present cross-modal functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment investigated whether the personality trait ‘disgust propensity’ (DP; temporally stable tendency to experience disgust across different situations) has an influence on the processing of visual food cues during bitter aftertaste perception. Thirty females with high DP and 30 females with low DP viewed images depicting sweet food (e.g., cakes, ice cream) and vegetables, once in combination with an extremely bitter aftertaste (concentrated wormwood tea), and once with a neutral taste (water). Females highly prone to disgust (compared to low disgust-prone females) showed increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and increased mPFC-insula connectivity when presented with the mismatch of a bitter aftertaste and visual cues of sweet food. The ACC is involved in conflict monitoring and is strongly interconnected with insular areas. This connection plays a critical role in awareness of changes in homeostatic states. Our findings indicate that the personality trait DP is associated with cross-modal integration processes of disgust-relevant information. Females high in DP were more alert to food-related sensory mismatch (pleasant visual features, aversive taste) than females low in DP.

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Leptin replacement alters brain response to food cues in genetically leptin-deficient adults

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.0706481104 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 104 (46) ◽

pp. 18276-18279 ◽

Cited By ~ 138

Author(s):

K. Baicy ◽

E. D. London ◽

J. Monterosso ◽

M.-L. Wong ◽

T. Delibasi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Cues ◽

Brain Response

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Humans with obesity have disordered brain responses to food images during physiological hyperglycemia

AJP Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1152/ajpendo.00335.2017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 314 (5) ◽

pp. E522-E529 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Renata Belfort-DeAguiar ◽

Dongju Seo ◽

Cheryl Lacadie ◽

Sarita Naik ◽

Christian Schmidt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brain Activity ◽

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Self Control ◽

Food Cues ◽

Brain Response ◽

Glucose Levels ◽

Hyperglycemic Clamp ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Food Images

Blood glucose levels influence brain regulation of food intake. This study assessed the effect of mild physiological hyperglycemia on brain response to food cues in individuals with obesity (OB) versus normal weight individuals (NW). Brain responses in 10 OB and 10 NW nondiabetic healthy adults [body mass index: 34 (3) vs. 23 (2) kg/m2, means (SD), P < 0.0001] were measured with functional MRI (blood oxygen level-dependent contrast) in combination with a two-step normoglycemic-hyperglycemic clamp. Participants were shown food and nonfood images during normoglycemia (~95 mg/dl) and hyperglycemia (~130 mg/dl). Plasma glucose levels were comparable in both groups during the two-step clamp ( P = not significant). Insulin and leptin levels were higher in the OB group compared with NW, whereas ghrelin levels were lower (all P < 0.05). During hyperglycemia, insula activity showed a group-by-glucose level effect. When compared with normoglycemia, hyperglycemia resulted in decreased activity in the hypothalamus and putamen in response to food images ( P < 0.001) in the NW group, whereas the OB group exhibited increased activity in insula, putamen, and anterior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (aPFC/dlPFC; P < 0.001). These data suggest that OB, compared with NW, appears to have disruption of brain responses to food cues during hyperglycemia, with reduced insula response in NW but increased insula response in OB, an area involved in food perception and interoception. In a post hoc analysis, brain activity in obesity appears to be associated with dysregulated motivation (striatum) and inappropriate self-control (aPFC/dlPFC) to food cues during hyperglycemia. Hyperstimulation for food and insensitivity to internal homeostatic signals may favor food consumption to possibly play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity.

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Effects of overfeeding on the neuronal response to visual food cues

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ◽

10.1093/ajcn/86.4.965 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 86 (4) ◽

pp. 965-971 ◽

Cited By ~ 111

Author(s):

Marc-Andre Cornier ◽

Sandra S Von Kaenel ◽

Daniel H Bessesen ◽

Jason R Tregellas

Keyword(s):

Neuronal Response ◽

Food Cues ◽

Visual Food Cues

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Suppressive responses by visual food cues in postprandial activities of insular cortex as revealed by magnetoencephalography

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2014.04.021 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1568 ◽

pp. 31-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Takahiro Yoshikawa ◽

Masaaki Tanaka ◽

Akira Ishii ◽

Yasuyoshi Watanabe

Keyword(s):

Insular Cortex ◽

Food Cues ◽

Visual Food Cues

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Neural correlates of victimization in psychosis: differences in brain response to angry faces

npj Schizophrenia ◽

10.1038/s41537-019-0082-z ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elisabeth C. D. van der Stouwe ◽

Jooske T. van Busschbach ◽

Esther M. Opmeer ◽

Bertine de Vries ◽

Jan-Bernard C. Marsman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Linear Model ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Brain Activation ◽

General Linear Model ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Brain Response ◽

Sensorimotor Network ◽

The Past ◽

Regional Brain ◽

Increased Risk

Abstract Individuals with psychosis are at an increased risk of victimization. Processing of facial expressions has been suggested to be associated with victimization in this patient group. Especially processing of angry expressions may be relevant in the context of victimization. Therefore, differences in brain activation and connectivity between victimized and nonvictimized patients during processing of angry faces were investigated. Thirty-nine patients, of whom nineteen had experienced threats, assaults, or sexual violence in the past 5 years, underwent fMRI scanning, during which they viewed angry and neutral facial expressions. Using general linear model (GLM) analyses, generalized psychophysiological (gPPI) analysis and independent component analyses (ICA) differences in brain activation and connectivity between groups in response to angry faces were investigated. Whereas differences in regional brain activation GLM and gPPI analyses yielded no differences between groups, ICA revealed more deactivation of the sensorimotor network in victimized participants. Deactivation of the sensorimotor network in response to angry faces in victimized patients, might indicate a freeze reaction to threatening stimuli, previously observed in traumatized individuals.

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How task demands shape brain responses to visual food cues

Human Brain Mapping ◽

10.1002/hbm.23560 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 2897-2912 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Tanja Maria Pohl ◽

Claus Tempelmann ◽

Toemme Noesselt

Keyword(s):

Task Demands ◽

Food Cues ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Visual Food Cues

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