Cue-Reward Learning and Weight Gain in Youth

摘要 在当今的饮食环境下，孩子们很容易吃得过多，导致体重增加。然而，并不是所有的孩子 肥胖，这表明人们如何感知和与电流互动存在个体差异 食品环境。对肥胖的研究表明，超重和肥胖的人，以及那些体重增加的人， 与健康体重的人相比，有更大的奖励敏感性，表现为增加BOLD 与奖赏、评价和味觉相关的神经区域对食物味道的反应。以来 关系是通过环境线索和饮食之间的关联条件作用来学习的，这是可能的。 人们如何与食物环境互动的个体差异可以用不同的 环境中的食物线索和食物味道之间的学习率。因此，另一种假设是 体重增加的人更有可能了解环境中各种线索之间的关系 提示-奖励学习（cue-reward learning）在这项研究中，我们建议评估是否奖励敏感性， 提示-奖励学习，或两者都与肥胖风险儿童和无肥胖风险儿童有差异。 肥胖，并评估这些神经机制是否预测随着时间的推移体重增加。我们建议招募 并扫描66名健康体重的8-10岁肥胖高危儿童（HR：两名超重/肥胖父母） 和66名健康体重、年龄匹配的低肥胖风险儿童（LR;父母两人都很瘦）， 评估BOLD对线索奖励学习范式的反应，该范式将无害线索与巧克力配对 奶昔和无味的唾液特别是，我们有兴趣评估是否奖励敏感性和 杏仁核、海马体、纹状体的线索奖励学习将区分HR和LR 儿童，以及这两种机制是否可以预测两年内的体重增加和饮食。我们将实现 这一目标通过以下三个主要目标：1）比较线索奖励学习率配对线索 与巧克力奶昔相比，HR和LR儿童之间的提示与无味唾液配对，2） 比较HR和LR儿童之间的奖励敏感性，如通过峰值BOLD反应所测量的。 评估线索奖励学习和奖励对享乐口味的敏感性作为体重增加和进食的预测因子 在儿童中随时间推移（HR和LR）。这个研究项目测试了一个关于暴饮暴食的新假设 和儿童肥胖症的发展，并可以提供关于个人脆弱性的关键数据， 为了进一步的研究而暴饮暴食此外，这项研究可以提供干预机制， 来奖励儿童的学习，最终预防青少年肥胖。

ABSTRACT It is easy for children to overeat in today's food environment, leading to weight gain. However, not all children are obese, suggesting that there is individual variability in how people perceive and interact with the current food environment. Research on obesity shows that overweight and obese people, and those that gain weight, compared to healthy weight people, have greater reward sensitivity, as demonstrated by increased BOLD response in neural areas associated with reward, evaluation and taste in response to the taste of food. Since relationships are learned through associative conditioning between environmental cues and eating, it is possible that this individual variability in how people interact with the food environment could be explained by different rates of learning between food cues in the environment and tastes of food. Thus, an alternative hypothesis, is that people that gain weight could be more likely to learn the relationships between cues in the environment predicting food (cue-reward learning). In this study, we propose to evaluate whether reward sensitivity, cue-reward learning, or both are differentially associated with children at risk for obesity and those not at risk for obesity, and to evaluate whether these neural mechanisms predict weight gain over time. We propose to recruit and scan 66 healthy weight 8-10 year old children at high-risk for obesity (HR: two overweight/obese parents) and 66 healthy weight age matched children at low-risk for obesity (LR; two lean parents) using functional MRI evaluating BOLD response to a cue-reward learning paradigm which pairs innocuous cues with chocolate milkshake and tasteless saliva. In particular, we are interested in evaluating whether reward sensitivity and cue-reward learning in the amygdala, insula, hippocampus and striatum will differentiate the HR from the LR children, and whether these two mechanisms predict weight gain and eating over two years. We will achieve this goal through the following three primary aims: 1) Compare the rate of cue-reward learning to cues paired with chocolate milkshake compared to cues paired with tasteless saliva between HR and LR children, 2) Compare the reward sensitivity, as measured by peak BOLD response, between HR and LR children 3) To evaluate cue-reward learning and reward sensitivity to hedonic taste as predictors of weight gain and eating over time in the children (HR and LR). This program of research tests a novel hypothesis regarding overeating and the development of obesity in children, and could provide critical data on individual vulnerabilities to overeating for further research. Furthermore, this study could provide mechanisms for intervention with regards to cue-reward learning in children, to ultimately prevent obesity in youth.