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Carnell S, Thapaliya G, Jansen E, Chen L. Biobehavioral susceptibility for obesity in childhood: Behavioral, genetic and neuroimaging studies of appetite. Physiol Behav 2023; 271:114313. [PMID: 37544571 PMCID: PMC10591980 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Modern food environments are conducive to overeating and weight gain, but not everyone develops obesity. One reason for this may be that individuals differ in appetitive characteristics, or traits, that manifest early in life and go on to influence their behavioral susceptibility to gain and maintain excess weight. Classic studies showing that eating behavior in children can be measured by behavioral paradigms such as tests of caloric compensation and eating in the absence of hunger inspired the development and validation of psychometric instruments to assess appetitive characteristics in children and infants. A large body of evidence now suggests that food approach traits increase obesity risk, while food avoidant traits, such as satiety responsiveness, decrease obesity risk. Twin studies and genetic association studies have demonstrated that appetitive characteristics are heritable, consistent with a biological etiology. However, family environment factors are also influential, with mounting evidence suggesting that genetic and environmental risk factors interact and correlate with consequences for child eating behavior and weight. Further, neuroimaging studies are revealing that individual differences in responses to visual food cues, as well as to small tastes and larger amounts of food, across a number of brain regions involved in reward/motivation, cognitive control and other functions, may contribute to individual variation in appetitive behavior. Growing evidence also suggests that variation on psychometric measures of appetite is associated with regional differences in brain structure, and differential patterns of resting state functional connectivity. Large prospective studies beginning in infancy promise to enrich our understanding of neural and other biological underpinnings of appetite and obesity development in early life, and how the interplay between genetic and environmental factors affects appetitive systems. The biobehavioral susceptibility model of obesity development and maintenance outlined in this narrative review has implications for prevention and treatment of obesity in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Carnell
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA.
| | - Gita Thapaliya
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
| | - Elena Jansen
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
| | - Liuyi Chen
- Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
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Higgins RC, Keller KL, Aruma JC, Masterson TD, Adise S, Fearnbach N, Stein WM, English LK, Fuchs B, Pearce AL. Influence of exclusive breastfeeding on hippocampal structure, satiety responsiveness, and weight status. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2022; 18:e13333. [PMID: 35167726 PMCID: PMC9218327 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 01/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Longer exclusive breastfeeding duration has been associated with differences in neural development, better satiety responsiveness, and decreased risk for childhood obesity. Given hippocampus sensitivity to diet and potential role in the integration of satiety signals, hippocampus may play a role in these relationships. We conducted a secondary analysis of 149, 7–11‐year‐olds (73 males) who participated in one of five studies that assessed neural responses to food cues. Hippocampal grey matter volume was extracted from structural scans using CAT12, weight status was assessed using age‐ and sex‐adjusted body mass index (%BMIp85), and parents reported exclusive breastfeeding duration and satiety responsiveness (Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire). Separate path models for left and right hippocampus tested: (1) the direct effect of exclusive breastfeeding on satiety responsiveness and its indirect effect through hippocampal grey matter volume; (2) the direct effect of hippocampal grey matter volume on %BMIp85 and its indirect effect through satiety responsiveness. %BMIp85 was adjusted for maternal education, yearly income, and premature birth while hippocampal grey matter volume was adjusted for total intercranial volume, age, and study from which data were extracted. Longer exclusive breastfeeding duration was associated with greater bilateral hippocampal grey matter volumes. In addition, better satiety responsiveness and greater left hippocampal grey matter volume were both associated with lower %BMIp85. However, hippocampal grey matter volumes were not associated with satiety responsiveness. Although no relationship was found between breastfeeding and child weight status, these results highlight the potential impact of exclusive breastfeeding duration on the hippocampal structure. Longer exclusive breastfeeding was associated with greater bilateral hippocampal grey matter volume but not satiety responsiveness in children. While exclusive breastfeeding duration was not directly associated with weight status, better satiety responsiveness and greater left hippocampal grey matter volume were both associated with lower weight status in children. This study highlights the potential impact of exclusive breastfeeding on hippocampal structure, providing a possible mechanism in which breastfeeding may reduce the risk for excess childhood weight gain. Future studies need to determine the relative impact that complementary periods of breastfeeding may have on regional brain development and satiety responsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan C Higgins
- Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, University Park Campus, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kathleen L Keller
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.,Department of Food Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jane C Aruma
- Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, University Park Campus, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Travis D Masterson
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Shana Adise
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.,Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Nicole Fearnbach
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.,Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
| | - Wendy M Stein
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Laural K English
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.,Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR), Office of Nutrition Guidance and Analysis (ONGA), Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Alexandria, Virginia, USA.,The Panum Group, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Bari Fuchs
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Alaina L Pearce
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
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Lynch KM, Page KA, Shi Y, Xiang AH, Toga AW, Clark KA. The effect of body mass index on hippocampal morphology and memory performance in late childhood and adolescence. Hippocampus 2021; 31:189-200. [PMID: 33174346 PMCID: PMC9006989 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Childhood obesity is associated with negative physiological and cognitive health outcomes. The hippocampus is a diverse subcortical structure involved in learned feeding behaviors and energy regulation, and research has shown that the hippocampus is vulnerable to the effects of excess adiposity. Previous studies have demonstrated reduced hippocampal volume in overweight and obese children; however, it is unclear if certain subregions are selectively affected. The purpose of this study was to determine how excess body weight influences regional hippocampal surface morphology and memory performance in a large cross-sectional cohort of 588 children and adolescents between 8.33 and 19.92 years of age using body mass index expressed as a percentage of the 95th percentile cutoff (%BMIp95). We demonstrate %BMIp95 is associated with reduced radial thickness in the superior anterior region of the left hippocampus, and this relationship is predominantly driven by children younger than 14 years. We also found %BMIp95 was associated with worse performance on a spatial episodic memory task and this relationship was partially mediated by the radial thickness of the significant shape cluster. These results demonstrate the differential influence of excess body weight on regional hippocampal structure and hippocampal-dependent behavior in children and adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten M. Lynch
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kathleen A. Page
- Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine; Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yonggang Shi
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Anny H. Xiang
- Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA
| | - Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kristi A. Clark
- Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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