Neural, Behavioral and Physiological Correlates of Feeding in Humans

Completed

• Conditions: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional

• Registration Number: NCT01665560
• Lead Sponsor: Yale University

Brief Summary

The overarching goal of this project is to understand how nicotine addiction interacts with feeding behaviors and brain representation of food reward. The current proposal is part of a larger effort to begin a program of research to elucidate similarities and differences in perception of, and behavioral and neural response to, food and cigarette aromas as a function of 1) smoking status (smokers, ex-smokers who do gain weight, ex-smokers who do not gain weight, non-smokers), 2) internal state (hungry, full), and 3) cigarette deprivation (acute, chronic). A general hypothesis is that there are overlapping neural mechanisms governing food reward and cigarette reward in smokers and that this overlap includes incentive salience encoding.

Detailed Description

Weight gain frequently follows smoking cessation. Fear of weight gain is cited as a key reason not to quit and actual weight gain is a primary reason for relapse, especially among women. Although the causes of weight gain following smoking cessation are complex, increased caloric intake is recognized as one of the primary sources. One explanation for increased caloric intake is that, there are common neural mechanisms for food and cigarette reward and hence food reward can substitute for cigarette reward and vice versa. An alternative explanation for weight gain following smoking cessation is that there is an overall decrease in brain reward function during nicotine withdrawal, which leads to a decrease in the reward value of food and consequent increase in intake to maintain the total amount of reward obtained by food. The success of the proposed studies relies upon our ability to deliver odorants in the fMRI scanner and to measure neural activation in regions such as the amygdala, which are susceptible to inhomogeneity artifacts.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2005-06
• Primary Completion: 2009-07
• Study Completion: 2009-07
• Status Verified: 2012-08
• Study First Submitted: 2012-08-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-08-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2012-08-09
• Study First Posted: 2012-08-15
• Last Update Posted: 2012-08-15

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 27

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy
• between the ages of 18-45
• fMRI safe

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Exclusion Criteria

• outside of the above age range
• not able to have an fMRI (non-removable metal, pacemaker, etc)
• medical diagnosis related to neurological problems, anxiety, psychiatric conditions
• Did not refrain from smoking for the described time in the smoking group, or showed a CO2 level consistent with a smoker in the non-smoking group

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Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
fMRI w/ taste and smell stimuli	1-2 hours	Subjects will be scanned on a 3T Trio magnet while tasting and smelling various food and non-food substances. Our primary outcome measure will be differential brain responses to taste and smell stimuli as a function of group (smokers vs. nonsmokers).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

John B Pierce Laboratory; 🇺🇸 New Haven, Connecticut, United States