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Brain structural correlates of reward sensitivity and impulsivity in adolescents with normal and excess weight.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Moreno-López, Laura  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3687-7237
Soriano-Mas, Carles  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4574-6597
Delgado-Rico, Elena  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9424-8928
Rio-Valle, Jacqueline S 
Verdejo-García, Antonio  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8874-9339

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Neuroscience evidence suggests that adolescent obesity is linked to brain dysfunctions associated with enhanced reward and somatosensory processing and reduced impulse control during food processing. Comparatively less is known about the role of more stable brain structural measures and their link to personality traits and neuropsychological factors on the presentation of adolescent obesity. Here we aimed to investigate regional brain anatomy in adolescents with excess weight vs. lean controls. We also aimed to contrast the associations between brain structure and personality and cognitive measures in both groups. METHODS: Fifty-two adolescents (16 with normal weight and 36 with excess weight) were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging and completed the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ), the UPPS-P scale, and the Stroop task. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to assess possible between-group differences in regional gray matter (GM) and to measure the putative differences in the way reward and punishment sensitivity, impulsivity and inhibitory control relate to regional GM volumes, which were analyzed using both region of interest (ROI) and whole brain analyses. The ROIs included areas involved in reward/somatosensory processing (striatum, somatosensory cortices) and motivation/impulse control (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex). RESULTS: Excess weight adolescents showed increased GM volume in the right hippocampus. Voxel-wise volumes of the second somatosensory cortex (SII) were correlated with reward sensitivity and positive urgency in lean controls, but this association was missed in excess weight adolescents. Moreover, Stroop performance correlated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volumes in controls but not in excess weight adolescents. CONCLUSION: Adolescents with excess weight have structural abnormalities in brain regions associated with somatosensory processing and motivation.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Biometry, Body Weight, Brain, Case-Control Studies, Child, Demography, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Obesity, Punishment, Reward, Surveys and Questionnaires

Journal Title

PLoS One

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203
1932-6203

Volume Title

7

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)