Neural Mechanisms Underlying Food Motivation in Children and Adolescents

Overview

Journal Neuroimage

Specialty Radiology

Date 2005 Jul 5

PMID 15993629

Citations 65

Authors

Laura M Holsen

Jennifer R Zarcone

Travis I Thompson

William M Brooks

Mary F Anderson

Jasjit S Ahluwalia

Nicole L Nollen

Cary R Savage

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Dramatic increases in childhood obesity necessitate a more complete understanding of neural mechanisms of hunger and satiation in pediatric populations. In this study, normal weight children and adolescents underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning before and after eating a meal. Participants showed increased activation to visual food stimuli in the amygdala, medial frontal/orbitofrontal cortex, and insula in the pre-meal condition; no regions of interest responded in the post-meal condition. These results closely parallel previous findings in adults. In addition, we found evidence for habituation to food stimuli in the amygdala within the pre-meal session. These findings provide evidence that normal patterns of neural activity related to food motivation begin in childhood. Results have implications for obese children and adults, who may have abnormal hunger and satiation mechanisms.

Citing Articles

Neural Response to Food Cues in Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

Thomas J, Holsen L, Van De Water A, Becker K, Breithaupt L, Burton-Murray H JAMA Netw Open. 2025; 8(2):e2460101.

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Does 'portion size' matter? Brain responses to food and non-food cues presented in varying amounts.

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Brain Correlates of Eating Disorders in Response to Food Visual Stimuli: A Systematic Narrative Review of FMRI Studies.

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Evaluation of visual food stimuli paradigms on healthy adolescents for future use in fMRI studies in anorexia nervosa.

Dabkowska-Mika A, Steiger R, Gander M, Haid-Stecher N, Fuchs M, Sevecke K J Eat Disord. 2023; 11(1):35.

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Food-Induced Brain Activity in Children with Overweight or Obesity versus Normal Weight: An Electroencephalographic Pilot Study.

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