Sex differences in cerebral responses to images of high versus low-calorie food

Abstract

Men and women differ in cerebral organization and prevalence rates of eating disorders. However, no studies have yet examined sex differences in cerebral responses to the caloric content of food images. Sixteen healthy adults (eight men; eight women) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing images of high-calorie and low-calorie foods. Compared with men, women showed significantly greater activation to calorie-rich foods within dorsolateral, ventrolateral, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, middle/posterior cingulate, and insula. Men failed to show greater activation in any cortical region compared with women, although amygdala responses were greater in men at a more liberal threshold. When viewing high-calorie food images, women seem more responsive than men within cortical regions involved in behavioral control and self-referential cognition.

Figure 1

Axial slices showing significant differences between men and women within the amygdala and insula regions of interest (ROIs) for the high-calorie > low-calorie food contrast. Left: Men showed greater activation than women bilaterally within the amygdala. Right: Women showed greater activation than men bilaterally within the insular cortex.

Figure 2

Whole brain activation showing significantly greater activation for women compared to men during the high-calorie > low-calorie food image contrast. A) Women showed significantly greater activation than men within the middle frontal gyrus (MFG), as evident in the axial (left), sagittal (middle), and coronal planes (right). B) Women showed significantly greater activation than men within the inferior lateral orbitofrontal gyrus (Inf Lat OFC), medial orbitofrontal cortex (Med OFC), and middle/posterior cingulate gyrus.