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Comparative Study
. 2012 Sep;20(9):1796-802.
doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.180. Epub 2011 Jun 30.

Saliency processing and obesity: a preliminary imaging study of the stop signal task

Olivia M Hendrick  1 , Xi Luo, Sheng Zhang, Chiang-Shan R Li
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Saliency processing and obesity: a preliminary imaging study of the stop signal task

Olivia M Hendrick et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2012 Sep.

Abstract

Obesity has been associated with altered cerebral functions including cognitive control. The stop signal task (SST) has been widely used to study cognitive control by producing high conflict stop trials among many low conflict go trials. Contrasting these stop trials with go trials provides a measure of saliency processing and response inhibition. By comparing functional magnetic resonance images of obese (BMI >30) and lean (BMI <22) females performing the SST, we observed differences in regional brain activations despite similar behavioral performance between groups. Specifically, lean females had greater activations in the insula, inferior parietal cortex, cuneus, and supplementary motor area than obese females during stop as compared to go trials. This difference was caused by diminished brain activations in obese females in stop as compared to go trials. Furthermore, the brain activations in these regions inversely correlated to BMI across subjects. These preliminary findings suggest altered neural processes of cognitive control in obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

DISCLOSURE

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain regions showing activation in stop as compared to go trials for (a) lean and (b) obese subjects (P < 0.001, uncorrected). Blood oxygenation level dependent contrasts are superimposed on a T1 structural image in axial sections from z = −10 to z = 62. The adjacent sections are 4 mm apart. The color bar represents voxel T value. Neurological orientation: right = right.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Lean women show greater activations than obese women during stop as compared to go trials. (a) Brain regions showing more activation in stop as compared to go trials for lean as compared to obese subjects (P < 0.005, uncorrected). Blood oxygenation level dependent contrasts are superimposed on a T1 structural image in axial sections from z = −10 to z = 62. The adjacent sections are 4 mm apart. The color bar represents voxel T value. Neurological orientation: right = right. (b) Histograms showing the effect sizes of activations in regions of interests for lean, overweight, and obese subjects. (c) The effect sizes for right insula activation during saliency processing showed the most significant linear correlation to BMI across all subjects (r = −0.5127, P < 0.0004).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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