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E. Stice

Possible papers associated with this exact author name in Arrow. This page groups case-insensitive exact name matches and is not a full identity disambiguation profile.

3 papers

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YNICL Journal 2019 Journal Article

Negative affect amplifies the relation between appetitive-food-related neural responses and weight gain over three-year follow-up among adolescents

X. Yang
M. Casement
S. Yokum
E. Stice

Obesity is a major public health concern that is associated with disruption in food reward-related brain function. This study examined if negative affect and stressful events enhance the relation between the food reward-related neural response and future weight gain. Initially healthy weight adolescents (N = 135) completed fMRI paradigms in which they tasted milkshakes and viewed palatable food images, and reported on negative affect and stressful events at baseline; BMI was measured annually over 3-year follow-up. Whole-brain analyses revealed that among participants with higher negative affect, weight gain over 3-year follow-up was predicted by elevated response to appetitive versus unappetitive food images in the left hippocampus, and elevated response in the vermis and the bilateral precuneus to tastes of milkshake versus tasteless solution. Among participants who experienced more stressful events, elevated right middle occipital gyrus response to milkshakes predicted future weight gain. Profiling analyses suggested that participants with higher negative affect or more stressful events who later gained weight reported engaging in more restrained eating and eating disorder-related behaviors. Results suggest that negative affect or stressful events may amplify the relation of neural response to food and the risk for future weight gain.

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YNIMG Journal 2018 Journal Article

Relation of neural response to palatable food tastes and images to future weight gain: Using bootstrap sampling to examine replicability of neuroimaging findings

E. Stice
S. Yokum

Because understanding neural vulnerability factors that predict future weight gain may guide the design of more effective obesity prevention programs and treatments, we tested whether neural response to palatable food tastes and images predicted future weight gain. We recruited 135 initially healthy weight adolescents, to reduce the possibility that a history of overeating affected neural responsivity, had them complete fMRI paradigms examining neural response to tastes of milkshakes that varied in fat and sugar content and images of palatable foods, and assessed BMI annually over a 3-year follow-up. We used a novel bootstrapping analytic approach to investigate the replicability of the fMRI findings. Whole-brain analyses indicated that lower response in the pre-supplemental motor area to high-fat/low-sugar milkshake taste predicted future BMI gain in the full sample and in 5 out of the 10 bootstrap samples. Elevated response in the precentral gyrus/Rolandic operculum to images of appetizing foods predicted future BMI gain in the full sample and in 4 out of the 10 bootstrap samples. Other peaks that emerged in the full sample did not replicate in most of the bootstrap samples, suggesting they were not reliable. Region of interest analyses did not replicate the predictive effects of peaks reported in past papers that used similar paradigms, including the evidence that TaqIA polymorphism moderated the relation of striatal response to palatable food tastes to future weight gain. Results suggest that lower responsivity of a region implicated in motor processing in response to palatable taste was associated with greater BMI gain over time, and further that bootstrap sampling may be useful for estimating the replicability of findings that emerge from whole brain analyses or regions of interest analyses with the full sample.

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YNICL Journal 2015 Journal Article

Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity

D. Val-Laillet
E. Aarts
B. Weber
M. Ferrari
V. Quaresima
L.E. Stoeckel
M. Alonso-Alonso
M. Audette

Functional, molecular and genetic neuroimaging has highlighted the existence of brain anomalies and neural vulnerability factors related to obesity and eating disorders such as binge eating or anorexia nervosa. In particular, decreased basal metabolism in the prefrontal cortex and striatum as well as dopaminergic alterations have been described in obese subjects, in parallel with increased activation of reward brain areas in response to palatable food cues. Elevated reward region responsivity may trigger food craving and predict future weight gain. This opens the way to prevention studies using functional and molecular neuroimaging to perform early diagnostics and to phenotype subjects at risk by exploring different neurobehavioral dimensions of the food choices and motivation processes. In the first part of this review, advantages and limitations of neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), pharmacogenetic fMRI and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) will be discussed in the context of recent work dealing with eating behavior, with a particular focus on obesity. In the second part of the review, non-invasive strategies to modulate food-related brain processes and functions will be presented. At the leading edge of non-invasive brain-based technologies is real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) neurofeedback, which is a powerful tool to better understand the complexity of human brain-behavior relationships. rtfMRI, alone or when combined with other techniques and tools such as EEG and cognitive therapy, could be used to alter neural plasticity and learned behavior to optimize and/or restore healthy cognition and eating behavior. Other promising non-invasive neuromodulation approaches being explored are repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). Converging evidence points at the value of these non-invasive neuromodulation strategies to study basic mechanisms underlying eating behavior and to treat its disorders. Both of these approaches will be compared in light of recent work in this field, while addressing technical and practical questions. The third part of this review will be dedicated to invasive neuromodulation strategies, such as vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). In combination with neuroimaging approaches, these techniques are promising experimental tools to unravel the intricate relationships between homeostatic and hedonic brain circuits. Their potential as additional therapeutic tools to combat pharmacorefractory morbid obesity or acute eating disorders will be discussed, in terms of technical challenges, applicability and ethics. In a general discussion, we will put the brain at the core of fundamental research, prevention and therapy in the context of obesity and eating disorders. First, we will discuss the possibility to identify new biological markers of brain functions. Second, we will highlight the potential of neuroimaging and neuromodulation in individualized medicine. Third, we will introduce the ethical questions that are concomitant to the emergence of new neuromodulation therapies.

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