2008 |
Bohon, Cara |
F31Activity Code Description: To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). |
Neural Substrates of Emotional Eating
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary aim of the proposed study is to investigate key assumptions of the Affect Regulation Model of binge eating using brain imaging techniques to examine neural substrates that may explain why emotional eaters binge eat. A preliminary fMRI study suggested that emotional eaters experience greater wanting (craving) for food when in a negative mood state than non-emotional eaters (as indexed by greater activation of the anterior cingulate), but the study did not have consistent findings for the effect of mood and emotional eating on liking food (hedonics). In the proposed follow-up study, 50 female college students who score in the top or bottom quartiles of an emotional eating scale will participate in a paradigm designed to assess wanting and liking of food. In this fMRI paradigm, participants are told that particular pictures signal the impending delivery of chocolate milkshake or a tasteless control solution, but the flavors are not always actually delivered, which permits an examination of brain activation in response to anticipated and actual receipt of the milkshake. Participants will complete this task in a negative and neutral mood (order counterbalanced), to test the hypotheses that wanting and liking differences between groups are more pronounced in the latter. They will also complete the task after moderate caloric deprivation or after consumption of a standardized meal (order counterbalanced), to test the hypothesis that differences in wanting and liking between groups may be more pronounced under conditions of satiety (as food deprivation may induce a ceiling effect for wanting and liking). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Understanding the neural basis for emotional eating, a risk factor for bulimia nervosa, binge eating, and obesity, may have important implications for etiologic models, and the development of more effective prevention and treatment interventions for these pernicious problems. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
|
0.958 |
2015 — 2019 |
Bohon, Cara |
K23Activity Code Description: To provide support for the career development of investigators who have made a commitment of focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. This mechanism provides support for a 3 year minimum up to 5 year period of supervised study and research for clinically trained professionals who have the potential to develop into productive, clinical investigators. |
Neurochemical and Functional Neuroimaging of Negative and Positive Valence Systems in Binge Eating
? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In order to achieve the long-term goal of establishing a strong, independent research program examining the biological bases of eating disorders, this K23 Career Development Award will provide training in new methodology and data analysis methods through mentorship, didactic education, and hands-on implementation of a research project utilizing these skills. Binge eating is a primary symptom in binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa - binge/purge type, disorders that are associated with comorbid psychiatric conditions and impaired psychosocial functioning. There is a great deal of heterogeneity among individuals engaging in binge eating, which can diminish treatment efficacy. For some patients, binge eating episodes are preceded by reports of negative affect, and thus thought of as reward-seeking in effort to regulate emotion. However, little is known about basic underlying emotion regulation in individuals who engage in binge eating, nor about the relation between emotional processes and reward function. The proposed study will utilize an established paradigm to examine implicit regulation of response to acute threat (using fMRI during completion of an emotion conflict task) in women who engage in binge eating. The study will also measure resting state functional connectivity using fMRI and dopamine receptor availability in order to examine how differences in emotion and binge eating may relate to underlying brain connection and neurochemical function related to approach motivation. These data will be utilized to differentiate subtypes of binge eaters who engage in binge eating either through emotional or reward-focused pathways. Findings will improve our understanding of how ability to regulate response to acute threat may function differently in some binge eaters and put them at risk for poor prognosis. This may suggest new directions for interventions that target underlying neural processes via computer tasks or biofeedback. In addition to providing preliminary data on individual differences in underlying emotion regulation, connectivity, and dopamine function among binge eaters, the award will provide extensive training in methods, including advanced fMRI analysis and PET imaging, statistics, and approaches to studying emotion in the context of eating disorders. The specific training goals for the duration of the award include (1) achieving competence in advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as resting-state connectivity, to better understand the biological basis for emotion regulation difficulties in eating disorders; (2) developing expertise in standardized measures of of emotion and its regulation; (3) expanding training in neuroimaging by adding PET imaging to my skillset; and (4) increasing ability to conduct multi-modal, multi-level statistical modeling to analyze complex datasets. To achieve these goals, appropriate seminars, scientific conferences, and courses have been identified, as well as specific plans for mentorship over the course of the applied research project by a team of mentors and consultants with expertise in eating disorders, neuroimaging, emotion, methodology, statistics, and career development.
|
1 |