Regular PaperReinforcing Value of Food in Obese and Non-obese Women☆,☆☆,★
Abstract
Food is a powerful reinforcer, and individual differences in the reinforcing efficacy of food may provide a mechanism to explain the excess intake and positive energy balance responsible for obesity. The present study tested the hypothesis that eating palatable food would be more reinforcing than engaging in sedentary activities (e.g. playing computer games) for obese in comparison to non-obese non-dietary restrained female college students. Subjects could choose to eat food or engage in sedentary activities based on their responding in a computer-generated concurrent schedules task. The reinforcement schedule associated with earning access to sedentary activities was held at variable ratio 2 (VR2) while the food reinforcement schedule was set at VR2 in the first trial of the choice task and doubled across the four subsequent trials from VR4 to VR32. Choice and consumption results indicated that eating was significantly more reinforcing than engaging in sedentary activities for obese subjects than non-obese subjects. Hedonics for the activities and foods were not correlated with total food reinforcers earned and did not differ between the groups. These results confirm the hypothesis that eating food is more reinforcing than selected alternative activities to a greater extent for obese than for non-obese young women.
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Reducing relative food reinforcement of infants using a music enrichment program: a randomized, controlled trial
2022, American Journal of Clinical NutritionFood reinforcement or one’s motivation to eat may be established early in life; it might not be the food reinforcement per se that drives weight gain, but rather the imbalance between food and nonfood reinforcement.
We implemented a 2-y randomized, controlled trial to assess the effects of a music enrichment program (music, n = 45) compared with an active play date control (control, n = 45) in 9- to 15-mo-old healthy infants who were strongly motivated to eat.
The 12-mo intensive intervention phase included 4 semesters of Music Together® or a play date program (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall), comprised of once per week group meetings, followed by a 12-mo maintenance phase with monthly meetings. Parents were encouraged to listen to the Music Together® program CD or play with the play date group’s toy with their infants at home, respectively. We performed a modified intention-to-treat analysis using all randomly assigned, non-excluded subjects for the outcome measures [relative reinforcing value of food (RRVfood), food reinforcement, music reinforcement, and weight-for-length z-score (WLZ)].
There were significant differential group changes across time for RRVfood (group × month; P = 0.016; Cohen’s f2 = 0.034). The music group had significantly greater RRVfood decreases than the control group from baseline to the end of the intensive intervention phase (music change = −0.211; control change = −0.015; P = 0.002; Cohen’s D = 0.379). However, these differences were not maintained during months 12–24 (music change = −0.187; control change = −0.143; P = 0.448; D = 0.087). We observed an overall moderation effect by sex for food reinforcement and WLZ. Boys in the music group had a significant attenuation in food reinforcement and WLZ compared with boys in the control group.
This study extends our knowledge in infant eating behavior by providing insight into the role of nonfood alternatives in altering one’s motivation to eat. There may be sex differences in altering one’s motivation to eat.
This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02936284.
Predicting Food Intake from Food Reward and Biometric Responses to Food Cues in Adults with Normal Weight Using Machine Learning
2022, Journal of NutritionEating behaviors are determined by a complex interplay between behavioral and physiologic signaling occurring before, during, and after eating.
The aim was to explore how selected behavioral and physiologic variables separately and grouped together predicted intake of 8 different foods.
One hundred adults with normal weight performed a food preference task combined with biometric measurements (the Steno Biometric Food Preference Task) in the fasting state. The task measured food reward as well as biometric (eye tracking, electrodermal activity, and facial expressions) responses to images of foods varying in fat content and taste. Energy intake from an ad libitum buffet of the same 8 foods as assessed in the preference task was subsequently assessed. A mixed-effects random forest approach was applied to explore how individual and combined measures of food reward and biometric responses predicted energy intake of the 8 single foods. The performance of the different prediction models was compared with the predictions from a linear model including only an intercept (naïve model) using bootstrap cross-validation.
Participants had a median [IQR] intake of 369 kJ [126–472 kJ] per food. Combined or separate measures of food reward or biometric responses did not predict energy intake better than the naïve model.
We did not find that the reward or biometric responses to food cues assessed in a clinical setting were useful in predicting energy intake of single foods. However, this study provides a framework in the field of behavioral nutrition for applying machine learning with a focus on individual predictions. This is necessary on the road toward personalized nutrition and provides great potential for handling complex data with multiple variables.
This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03986619.
A Neuroeconomics Approach to Obesity
2022, Biological PsychiatryObesity is a heterogeneous condition that is affected by physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Value-based decision making is a useful framework for integrating these factors at the individual level. The disciplines of behavioral economics and reinforcement learning provide tools for identifying specific cognitive and motivational processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Neuroeconomics complements these disciplines by studying the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. We surveyed recent literature on individual decision characteristics that are most frequently implicated in obesity: discounting the value of future outcomes, attitudes toward uncertainty, and learning from rewards and punishments. Our survey highlighted both consistent and inconsistent behavioral findings. These findings underscore the need to examine multiple processes within individuals to identify unique behavioral profiles associated with obesity. Such individual characterization will inform future studies on the neurobiology of obesity as well as the design of effective interventions that are individually tailored.
Measuring sensory perception in relation to consumer behavior
2022, Rapid Sensory Profiling Techniques: Applications in New Product Development and Consumer Research, Second EditionSensory scientists focus much of their efforts on measuring specific sensations elicited by products, or measuring the pleasure provided by products. Substantially less effort is given to measuring consumer behavior in regard to intake or use. Implicitly or explicitly, sensations are assumed to influence liking, acceptance, and preference, which in turn influence use and intake. That is, sensory and consumer scientists generally assume formulation ultimately influences use (or at least purchase). However, measurement error at each stage complicates efforts to build causal models of the chain from formulation to use. This chapter highlights sources of variability at various points, including measurement error and innate biological differences in the putative path from formulation to use.
A review of effort-based decision-making in eating and weight disorders
2021, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryEffort-based decision-making provides a framework to understand the mental computations estimating the amount of work (“effort”) required to obtain a reward. The aim of the current review is to systematically synthesize the available literature on effort-based decision-making across the spectrum of eating and weight disorders. More specifically, the current review summarises the literature examining whether 1) individuals with eating disorders and overweight/obesity are willing to expend more effort for rewards compared to healthy controls, 2) if particular components of effort-based decision-making (i.e. risk, discounting) relate to specific binge eating conditions, and 3) how individual differences in effort and reward -processing measures relate to eating pathology and treatment measures. A total of 96 studies were included in our review, following PRISMA guidelines. The review suggests that individuals with binge eating behaviours 1) are more likely to expend greater effort for food rewards, but not monetary rewards, 2) demonstrate greater decision-making impairments under risk and uncertainty, 3) prefer sooner rather than delayed rewards for both food and money, and 4) demonstrate increased implicit ‘wanting’ for high fat sweet foods. Finally, individual differences in effort and reward -processing measures relating to eating pathology and treatment measures are also discussed.
Sucking behavior has been described as an obesity risk marker. Sucking behavior in response to challenge has not been examined as a prospective predictor of infant weight gain. Healthy, full term infants had sucking behavior assessed at ages 2 weeks and/or 2 months via a sucking pressure measurement device in two feeding conditions: during a standard feeding and during a feeding with a more challenging nipple. Weight and length were measured at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 4 months and weight-for-length z-score (WLZ) calculated. Among 45 full term infants, adjusted for age at measurement and time since last feeding, the challenging versus typical feedings differed with regard to amount consumed (54.1g vs. 65.6g, p < .05), maximum sucking pressure (121.3 mmHg vs. 99.2 mmHg, p < .05), mean burst duration (17.5s vs. 28.4s, p < .05), and feeding duration (18.51 min vs. 13.89 min, p < .01). Grams consumed in the challenging, but not typical, feeding, adjusted for age and time since last feeding, predicted rate of change in WLZ from time of measurement to age 4 months (r = 0.46, p = .013 for challenging, r = −0.07, p = .702 for typical). Nipples that are more challenging to suck from change the sucking behavior and intake among full term infants. Infants who consume more when the nipple is more challenging have greater prospective weight gain. This persistent sucking behavior in the face of challenge may reflect that a greater willingness to work for food, a known obesity risk factor, is detectable in early infancy.
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Appreciation is expressed to Karen J. Coleman and Michelle D. Myers for comments on research design and critique of previous versions of this manuscript.
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This research is supported in part by grants HD 25997 and HD 20829.
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Correspondence to: Dr Leonard H. Epstein, Behavioral Medicine Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, U.S.A.