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. 2023 Feb 1:17:1052384.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1052384. eCollection 2023.

Differential neural reward reactivity in response to food advertising medium in children

Dabin Yeum  1   2 , Courtney A Jimenez  3 , Jennifer A Emond  1   4 , Meghan L Meyer  5 , Reina K Lansigan  2 , Delaina D Carlson  2 , Grace A Ballarino  2 , Diane Gilbert-Diamond  2   4   6 , Travis D Masterson  7
Affiliations

Differential neural reward reactivity in response to food advertising medium in children

Dabin Yeum et al. Front Neurosci. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: Food cues including food advertisements (ads) activate brain regions related to motivation and reward. These responses are known to correlate with eating behaviors and future weight gain. The objective of this study was to compare brain responses to food ads by different types of ad mediums, dynamic (video) and static (images), to better understand how medium type impacts food cue response.

Methods: Children aged 9-12 years old were recruited to complete a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm that included both food and non-food dynamic and static ads. Anatomical and functional images were preprocessed using the fMRIPrep pipeline. A whole-brain analysis and a targeted region-of-interest (ROI) analysis for reward regions (nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, hypothalamus, ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra) were conducted. Individual neural responses to dynamic and static conditions were compared using a paired t-test. Linear mixed-effects models were then constructed to test the differential response by ad condition after controlling for age, sex, BMI-z, physical activity, and % of kcal consumed of a participant's estimated energy expenditure in the pre-load prior to the MRI scan.

Results: A total of 115 children (mean=10.9 years) completed the fMRI paradigm. From the ROI analyses, the right and left hemispheres of the amygdala and insula, and the right hemisphere of the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra showed significantly higher responses for the dynamic food ad medium after controlling for covariates and a false discovery rate correction. From the whole-brain analysis, 21 clusters showed significant differential responses between food ad medium including the precuneus, middle temporal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus, and all regions remained significant after controlling for covariates.

Discussion: Advertising medium has unique effects on neural response to food cues. Further research is needed to understand how this differential activation by ad medium ultimately affects eating behaviors and weight outcomes.

Keywords: children; dynamic ad; fMRI; food cues; neural reactivity; static ad; visual stimuli.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Participant flow chart.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
MRI paradigm. Food and non-food ads were presented which alternated in an AB/BA (randomized order) pattern during the dynamic and static runs (shown in two different colors). Each run contained five food and five non-food ads, and each ad was 15 s in length. Each fixation cross block between runs was 15 s in length. For the four dynamic runs, a total of 20 food ads (5 min) and 20 non-food ads (5 min) were presented; for the four static runs, a total of 40 food ads (5 min) and 40 non-food ads (5 min) were presented to the study participants.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Masks used in the region-of-interest (ROI) analysis. (A) Orbitofrontal cortex. (B) Amygdala. (C) Yellow: Nucleus accumbens; Orange: Hypothalamus; Red: Substantia nigra; Blue: Ventral tegmental area. (D) Insula.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Clusters obtained from the whole brain analysis. Red = Activation in the positive direction (Dynamic > Static condition); Blue = Activation in the negative direction (Static > Dynamic condition).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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