Longitudinal Changes in Brain Structures Related to Appetitive Reactivity and Regulation Across Development

Publication date: Available online 25 June 2019Source: Developmental Cognitive NeuroscienceAuthor(s): Rebecca E. Martin, Jennifer A. Silvers, Felicia Hardi, Theodore Stephano, Chelsea Helion, Catherine Insel, Peter J. Franz, Emilia Ninova, Jared P. Lander, Walter Mischel, BJ Casey, Kevin N. OchsnerAbstractIn the United States over one-third of the population, including children and adolescents, are overweight or obese. Despite the prevalence of obesity, few studies have examined how food cravings and the ability to regulate them change throughout development. Here, we addressed this gap in knowledge by examining structural brain and behavioral changes associated with regulation of craving across development. In a longitudinal design, individuals ages 6 to 26 completed two structural scans as well as a behavioral task where they used a cognitive regulatory strategy to decrease the appetitive value of foods. Behaviorally, we found that the ability to regulate craving improved with age. Neurally, improvements in regulatory ability were associated with cortical thinning in medial and lateral prefrontal cortex. We also found that models with cortical thickness measurements and age chosen by a lasso-based variable selection method could predict an individual’s regulation behavior better than age and other behavioral factors alone. Additionally, when controlling for age, smaller ventral striatal volumes were associated with higher body mass index and predicted greater increases in...

Source: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience - June 26, 2019 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research