Systematically lower structural brain connectivity in individuals with elevated food addiction symptoms

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Food addiction symptoms overlap with obesity and eating disorders, suggesting a continuum of personality traits like impulsivity.
• The triadic model of addiction proposes interactions between sensitized reward systems, desensitized control systems, and disrupted interoceptive systems.
• Understanding the neuroanatomy of addictive-like eating behavior is crucial for identifying susceptibility and developing interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the neuroanatomy of addictive-like eating behavior using a triadic model of addiction.
• To investigate structural brain connectivity differences between individuals with high and low food addiction symptoms.
• To correlate brain imaging findings with behavioral measures of impulsivity and eating disorder traits.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-four healthy-weight university students underwent high-resolution structural and diffusion tensor imaging.
• Participants completed questionnaires including the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), Binge Eating Scale, Eating Attitude Test-26, and UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale.
• Diffusion tensor imaging and Voxel-Based Morphometry were used to analyze brain structure and connectivity.

Main Results:

• The High Food Addiction group (HFA) exhibited lower structural connectivity between the insula and anterior cingulate cortex, insula and caudate, and ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) and putamen compared to the Low Food Addiction group (LFA).
• HFA showed marginally lower gray matter volume in the left vmPFC.
• Higher food addiction symptoms correlated with increased impulsivity and decision-making traits characteristic of eating disorders.

Conclusions:

• Reduced structural connectivity in brain regions involved in interoception, decision-making, and reward processing is associated with addictive-like eating behavior.
• These neuroanatomical differences may indicate a predisposition to developing unhealthy relationships with food, even in individuals without diagnosed eating disorders or obesity.
• Findings support the triadic model of addiction and highlight the importance of interoceptive awareness and executive control in food addiction.