Inhibitory control pathway to disinhibited eating: A matter of perspective?

Recent studies highlight the importance of disinhibited eating and underlying inhibitory control deficits in the maintenance of obesity. So far, inhibition facets have been examined in isolation and findings are inconsistent due to different measures. This study illustrates the multifaceted nature of inhibitory control by comparing different inhibition stages in outpatients with chronic overweight (with binge eating disorder, BED, n = 24; Non-BED, n = 47) and healthy controls (HC, n = 30). Besides reporting impulsive patterns (UPPS), participants performed the Food Stroop (FST), Door Opening (DOT) and Stop Signal (SST) task with food and generic stimuli. The results showed a significant influence of self-reported inhibition deficits on body weight in outpatients irrespective of binge eating. On a behavioral level, BED exhibited deficits in focusing on a task (FST) but not to Non-BED but performed better in inhibiting an already initiated response (SST) compared to Non-BED and HC regardless of stimulus category. In sum, first-stage deficits in interference inhibition might be attributable to the initiation of eating episodes, while deficits in the late-stage interruptive inhibition might result in loss of control over an eating episode especially in BED if executive resources are depleted. Under executive control, BED might perform better, given their daily practice. The inclusion of a holistic inhibitory control pathway offers a further step in obesity research.