The Chocolate Study

NCT ID: NCT01949636

Last Updated: 2018-05-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 131 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2012-05-31
• Study Completion Date: 2018-04-30

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the dynamic vulnerability model of obesity using brain imaging.

Detailed Description

Obese vs lean humans show greater gustatory/oral somatosensory and reward region responsivity to palatable food images/cues and this predicts future weight gain (Yokum et al., 2011; Stice et al., 2008, 2010b; Stoeckel et al., 2008), in line with reward surfeit and incentive sensitization models of obesity (Berridge, 2009; Davis et al., 2004). Yet, obese vs lean humans have fewer dopamine (DA) receptors in striatal reward regions, show reduced striatal response to palatable food intake, and low striatal response predicts future weight gain in those at genetic risk for reduced DA signaling (Felsted et al., 2010; Stice et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2001; Volkow et al., 2008), in line with the reward deficit model of obesity (Wang et al., 2002b). One explanation for the mixed findings is that some of these findings reflect initial risk factors and others result from overeating. Firing of DA neurons in reward regions shifts from food intake to cues that predict food intake after conditioning (Kiyatkin et al., 1994; Schultz et al., 1993) and overeating leads to reduced D2 receptor density, D2 sensitivity, and reward sensitivity in rats (Alsio et al., 2010; Kelley et al., 2003; Johnson & Kenny, 2010) and striatal response to food in humans (Stice et al., 2010a), implying that overeating leads to increased incentive sensitization and down-regulation of reward regions. Further, reduced inhibitory region response to food images/cues predicts future overeating and weight gain (Cornier et al., 2010). Data imply that youth at risk for obesity initially show greater responsivity of regions that encode the reward value of food cues, coupled with greater responsivity of gustatory/oral somatosensory regions that encode the sugar and fat content of foods, and with reduced inhibitory region responsivity, which lead to overeating/weight gain that produces blunted striatal DA signaling, increased responsivity of reward valuation regions to food cues, and reduced inhibitory activation in response to food stimuli, increasing risk for further overeating/weight gain. We propose to conduct a rigorous test of this dynamic-vulnerability model using a novel repeated measures fMRI design in which teens complete scans annually over 4 years. Aim 1: test whether elevated gustatory/oral somatosensory and reward region responsivity and reduced inhibitory region responsivity to palatable food images, cues, and intake of food varying in sugar/fat content, and behavioral inhibitory control deficits/immediate reward bias predict initial increases in % body fat in 130 lean teens. Aim 2: use growth curve models to test whether initial increases in % body fat and energy dense food intake predict future decreases in striatal response to palatable food receipt, increases in reward circuitry response to palatable food images/cues, decreased inhibitory region response to food images/cues, and increased behavioral inhibitory control deficits/immediate reward bias. Aim 3: test whether decreased striatal response to palatable food, increased reward region response to food images/cues, reduced inhibitory region response to food images/cues, behavioral inhibitory control deficits/immediate reward bias predict further escalation in % body fat.

Conditions

Obesity

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

lean adolescents

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Intervention Type: OTHER

Interventions

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• between 14-16 years old
• BMI between 25th and 75th percentile

Exclusion Criteria

• contraindicators of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

1. metal implants

2. braces

3. pregnancy

• symptoms of major psychiatric disorders (substance use disorders, conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder)
• binge eating
• use of pyschoactive drugs
• serious medical conditions (diabetes, brain injury)
• smoking
• dietary allergy to dairy

• Minimum Eligible Age: 14 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Oregon Research Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Eric Stice, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Oregon Research Institute

Locations

Oregon Research Institute

Portland, Oregon, United States

Countries

United States

References

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Cornier MA, Salzberg AK, Endly DC, Bessesen DH, Tregellas JR. Sex-based differences in the behavioral and neuronal responses to food. Physiol Behav. 2010 Mar 30;99(4):538-43. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.01.008. Epub 2010 Jan 22.

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Felsted JA, Ren X, Chouinard-Decorte F, Small DM. Genetically determined differences in brain response to a primary food reward. J Neurosci. 2010 Feb 17;30(7):2428-32. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5483-09.2010.

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Stice E, Davis K, Miller NP, Marti CN. Fasting increases risk for onset of binge eating and bulimic pathology: a 5-year prospective study. J Abnorm Psychol. 2008 Nov;117(4):941-6. doi: 10.1037/a0013644.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Stice E, Yokum S, Blum K, Bohon C. Weight gain is associated with reduced striatal response to palatable food. J Neurosci. 2010 Sep 29;30(39):13105-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2105-10.2010.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Stice E, Yokum S, Bohon C, Marti N, Smolen A. Reward circuitry responsivity to food predicts future increases in body mass: moderating effects of DRD2 and DRD4. Neuroimage. 2010 May 1;50(4):1618-25. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.01.081. Epub 2010 Jan 29.

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Yokum S, Ng J, Stice E. Attentional bias to food images associated with elevated weight and future weight gain: an fMRI study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Sep;19(9):1775-83. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.168. Epub 2011 Jun 16.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Yokum S, Bohon C, Berkman E, Stice E. Test-retest reliability of functional MRI food receipt, anticipated receipt, and picture tasks. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021 Aug 2;114(2):764-779. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab096.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 33851199 (View on PubMed)

Yokum S, Stice E. Weight gain is associated with changes in neural response to palatable food tastes varying in sugar and fat and palatable food images: a repeated-measures fMRI study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Dec 1;110(6):1275-1286. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz204.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 31535135 (View on PubMed)

Shearrer GE, Stice E, Burger KS. Adolescents at high risk of obesity show greater striatal response to increased sugar content in milkshakes. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jun 1;107(6):859-866. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy050.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 29771283 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

http://chocolate.ori.org/

Recruitment website

Other Identifiers

R01DK092468

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

092468

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id