Neurobehavioral Plasticity to Regular Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake: An fMRI Experiment

NCT ID: NCT03490734

Last Updated: 2023-04-06

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

View full results

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

160 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-04-10

Study Completion Date

2022-03-18

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The proposed project will examine the strength, specificity and persistence of neurobehavioral adaptions that occur in the initial period of repeated consumption of a branded sugar sweetened beverage (SSB).

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

The proposed project addresses critical gaps in the understanding of the strength, specificity and persistence of neurobehavioral adaptions that occur in the initial period of repeated consumption of a branded sugar sweetened beverage (SSB). Half of Americans consume SSBs on any given day.

Regular SSB intake is considered a contributing factor to excess energy intake, weight gain, and obesity, which impacts 70% of Americans. A contributing factor to repeated SSB consumption is sugar intake causes the release of dopamine (DA) and opioids in the striatum, providing positive reinforcement. As such, multiple brain-based models of food reward-driven obesity have been proposed, largely focusing on the striatum and executive functioning. These brain-based models of obesity have elucidated risk factors for overconsumption of high-sugar foods; however, data supporting these competing models rely heavily on observational studies in small samples.

Importantly, previous reports from the investigators lab and others directly implicate eating behavior patterns as a vital contributor to aberrant neurobehavioral responses to food stimuli. However, without experimental evidence, there are fundamental gaps in the investigators knowledge about the neurobehavioral adaptations that occur as an individual begins to regularly consume a SSB prior to weight change.

As observational data suggest, it is also crucial to examine individual difference factors that may exacerbate or protect against adaptations associated with regular SSB intake, as well as whether these adaptions are specific.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Obesity Weight Gain

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Stratified randomization techniques will be used to distribute: 1) male \& females, 2) those with a BMI \> 26.1 \& those with a BMI \< 26.1, and 3) regular SSB consumers (\> 1/day; 12 fl oz) \& low or non-SSB consumers equally across the 2 experimental conditions (SSB vs. unsweetened beverage) and then to the two flavors within each experimental condition. BMI of 26.0 was selected as it is the midpoint of inclusion criteria 18 \< BMI \< 34.
Primary Study Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants
Experimental and flavor conditions will be blinded to those performing analyses.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Beverage A (Sweetened)

One quarter of the group to receive black cherry and orange flavored beverage with added sugar for 3 weeks.

MRIs will be performed before starting and then after 3 weeks of daily beverage consumption wherein participants will be presented with visual stimuli of two beverage logos, one representing a water solution and another representing the assigned beverage. Each 1-second presentation signals impending delivery of 3 mL of the associated beverage via a plastic mouthpiece during MRI.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Black Cherry and Orange Flavored Beverage with added sugar

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

10 oz daily for three weeks

Water

Intervention Type OTHER

Three mL administered per associated logo presentation only during MRI procedure.

Beverage B (Sweetened)

One quarter of the group to receive strawberry kiwi \& lemonade flavored beverage with added sugar for 3 weeks.

MRIs will be performed before starting and then after 3 weeks of daily beverage consumption wherein participants will be presented with visual stimuli of two beverage logos, one representing a water solution and another representing the assigned beverage. Each 1-second presentation signals impending delivery of 3 mL of the associated beverage via a plastic mouthpiece during MRI.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Strawberry Kiwi &Lemonade Flavored Beverage with added sugar

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

10 oz daily for three weeks

Water

Intervention Type OTHER

Three mL administered per associated logo presentation only during MRI procedure.

Beverage A (Unsweetened)

One quarter of the group to receive black cherry and orange flavored beverage no added sugar for 3 weeks.

MRIs will be performed before starting and then after 3 weeks of daily beverage consumption wherein participants will be presented with visual stimuli of two beverage logos, one representing a water solution and another representing the assigned beverage. Each 1-second presentation signals impending delivery of 3 mL of the associated beverage via a plastic mouthpiece during MRI.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Black Cherry and Orange Flavored Beverage no added sugar

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

10 oz daily for three weeks

Water

Intervention Type OTHER

Three mL administered per associated logo presentation only during MRI procedure.

Beverage B (Unsweetened)

One quarter of the group to receive strawberry kiwi \& lemonade flavored beverage no added sugar for 3 weeks.

MRIs will be performed before starting and then after 3 weeks of daily beverage consumption wherein participants will be presented with visual stimuli of two beverage logos, one representing a water solution and another representing the assigned beverage. Each 1-second presentation signals impending delivery of 3 mL of the associated beverage via a plastic mouthpiece during MRI.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Strawberry Kiwi & Lemonade Flavored Beverage no added sugar

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

10 oz daily for three weeks

Water

Intervention Type OTHER

Three mL administered per associated logo presentation only during MRI procedure.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Black Cherry and Orange Flavored Beverage with added sugar

10 oz daily for three weeks

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Strawberry Kiwi &Lemonade Flavored Beverage with added sugar

10 oz daily for three weeks

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Black Cherry and Orange Flavored Beverage no added sugar

10 oz daily for three weeks

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Strawberry Kiwi & Lemonade Flavored Beverage no added sugar

10 oz daily for three weeks

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Water

Three mL administered per associated logo presentation only during MRI procedure.

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

Kool-Aid® Kool-Aid® Kool-Aid® Kool-Aid®

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Potential participants will be eligible for the study if they have BMI scores between the 18 and 34 at baseline.

Exclusion Criteria

* Individuals with probable current Axis I psychopathology or any fMRI contra-indicators (e.g., metal implants, braces) will be excluded. Those with a probable Axis I diagnosis will be provided with treatment referral information and encouraged to seek treatment,
* current regular use (3 or more times a week) of psychoactive drugs (e.g., cocaine, marijuana, nicotine),
* regular smoking,
* serious medical problems (e.g., cancer, diabetes),
* dietary practices that do not allow intake of intervention beverages.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

28 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

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

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Kyle Burger, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Mcgavran-Greenberg Hall

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Peirce JW. PsychoPy--Psychophysics software in Python. J Neurosci Methods. 2007 May 15;162(1-2):8-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017. Epub 2007 Jan 23.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17254636 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

Download supplemental materials such as informed consent forms, study protocols, or participant manuals.

Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

1R01DK112317-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

17-0710

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Eating Behaviors in Shift Workers
NCT04468672 ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING NA