Trait food craving predicts functional connectivity between dopaminergic midbrain and the fusiform food area during eating imagery
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15520261 |
|---|---|
| Authors | F Devoto (0000-0002-3240-2341, University of Milano-Bicocca, corresponding author), Marika Mariano (0000-0003-3855-6242, University of Milano-Bicocca), Edoardo Gornetti (University of Milano-Bicocca), Eraldo Paulesu (0000-0002-9224-754X, Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi), Laura Zapparoli (0000-0002-9210-942X, Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Pages | 1396376-1396376 |
| Publication date | 2024-05-07 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1396376 |
| PMID | 38774434 |
| OpenAlex | W4396693003 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 49 |
Neurofunctional coupling between the dopaminergic midbrain (i.e., ventral tegmental area, VTA) and higher-order visual regions may contribute to food craving, leading to the onset or maintenance of obesity. We recently showed that the VTA resting-state functional connectivity with the occipitotemporal cortex, at the level of the fusiform gyrus (FFG), was specifically associated with trait food craving and the implicit bias for food images, suggesting that VTA-FFG connectivity may reflect the association between the visual representations of food and its motivational properties. To further test this hypothesis, this time we studied task-based functional connectivity in twenty-eight healthy-weight participants while imagining eating their most liked high-calorie (HC) or least liked low-calorie food (LC) or drinking water (control condition). Trait food craving scores were used to predict changes in task-based functional connectivity of the VTA during imagery of HC compared to LC foods (relative to the control condition). Trait food craving was positively associated with the functional connectivity of the VTA with the left FFG: people with higher trait food craving scores show stronger VTA-FFG connectivity, specifically for the imagery of the liked HC foods. This association was not linked to the quality of imagery nor to state measures of craving, appetite, or thirst. These findings emphasize the contribution of the functional coupling between dopaminergic midbrain and higher-order visual regions to food craving, suggesting a neurofunctional mechanism by which the mental representations of the HC food we like can become much more salient if not irresistible
Addiction · Cognitive psychology · Craving · Dopamine · Dopaminergic · Food craving · Trait · Ventral tegmental area · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Neuroscience · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |