Neuroscience of human food perception and eating behavior

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Evidence from neuroimaging studies indicates that brain regions supporting reward processing and habit formation may be related to an individual's eating behavior and obesity propensity. In particular, previous research has found that dopamine D2 receptor binding potential (D2BP) may be related to opportunistic eating behaviors, body fat, and body mass index (BMI). However, conflicting data on the nature of this relationship have been reported. We are conducting a clinical research study (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03648892) to elucidate the reasons for the conflicting results that used somewhat different methodologies. Specifically, our previous study used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure D2BP using the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist radioligand 18Ffallypride following a period of dietary stabilization and 3 hours after a standardized breakfast. Reports finding correlations between D2BP and BMI in the opposite direction have typically investigated subjects with higher BMI using the D2 receptor antagonist radioligand 11Craclopride. Furthermore, previous studies were typically conducted in the fasted state, but the subjects prior food intake was not well-controlled. The present study will attempt to resolve the controversy by measuring D2BP using both 18Ffallypride and 11Craclopride in 39 adults, 13 within each of three BMI strata to represent a large BMI range, under controlled overnight fasting conditions following a period of dietary stabilization. The primary aims are to estimate the mathematical relationship between striatal D2BP and BMI and determine the within-subject correlations of D2BP derived from 18Ffallypride and 11Craclopride. We are also evaluating the relationship between restriction of dietary carbohydrate versus fat on D2BP as well as neural activity to visual food stimuli (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00846040).