Neural predictors of eating behavior and dietary change

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of human neuroimaging studies seeking to predict behavior above and beyond traditional measurements such as self-report. This trend has been particularly notable in the area of food consumption, as the percentage of people categorized as overweight or obese continues to rise. In this review, we argue that there is considerable utility in this form of health neuroscience, modeling the neural bases of eating behavior and dietary change in healthy community populations. Further, we propose a model and accompanying evidence indicating that several basic processes underlying eating behavior, particularly reactivity, regulation, and valuation, can be predictive of behavior change. We also discuss future directions for this work.

Keywords: behavior change; brain-as-predictor; dieting; eating.

Figure 1

Proposed framework integrating reactivity, regulation, and value in predicting food choice behaviors. (A) Model of cue-reactivity predicting behavior: reactivity to a desired, unhealthy food cue predicts choice of that food, the consumption of which may then feedback on the reactivity to that cue. (B) Standard model of regulation predicting behavior: cognitive regulation of food cue-reactivity down-regulates reactivity to reduce consumption of the unhealthy food. (C) Integrating subjective value of food choice behaviors: the subjective value that an individual places on individual food options, as well as regulation itself, moderates the relative weights of reactivity and regulation to influence food choice (here, potentiating regulation of the reactivity to the unhealthy food and the value of consuming the healthy food).

Figure 2

Map of brain regions commonly recruited during food-related reactivity, regulation, and valuation, and their component processes. NAcc = nucleus accumbens; OFC = orbitofrontal cortex; dlPFC = dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; vlPFC = ventrolateral prefrontal cortex; IFG = inferior frontal gyrus; PPC = posterior parietal cortex; dACC = dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; preSMA = pre-supplementary motor area; vmPFC = ventromedial prefrontal cortex.