Resting-State Functional Connectivity Differences in College Students with and without Food Insecurity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Food insecurity (FI) is a growing concern among college students, potentially impacting cognitive functions.
• Executive functions are crucial for academic success and are known to be affected by various stressors.
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of these effects is vital for developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in brain functional connectivity at rest between college students with very low food security and those with high food security.
• To explore the relationship between food insecurity, executive function performance, and brain network connectivity.

Main Methods:

• Used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess resting-state functional connectivity in three large-scale brain networks: default-mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network (FPN), and salience network (SN).
• Administered the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 (BRIEF-2) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaires to assess executive functions and early life stress.
• Analyzed data from 40 college students (20 with FI, 20 with high food security), matched for age and sex.

Main Results:

• Students with food insecurity exhibited poorer performance on global executive function measures and specific subscales (Inhibit, Initiate, Working Memory, Plan, Organize) of the BRIEF-2.
• Significantly greater functional connectivity was observed in students with FI between the FPN and the left middle temporal gyrus, and between the SN and both the precuneus and the right middle frontal gyrus.
• Exploratory analyses indicated that increased connectivity in specific FPN and SN pathways correlated with poorer executive function scores in the food-insecure group.

Conclusions:

• Food insecurity is associated with measurable differences in brain functional connectivity within key cognitive networks at rest among college students.
• Altered connectivity in the FPN, DMN, and SN may underlie the observed executive function deficits in students experiencing food insecurity.
• These findings highlight the neurobiological impact of food insecurity on cognitive health in a vulnerable student population.