Increased Brain Reward Responsivity to Food‐Related Odors in Obesity

• DOI: 10.1002/oby.23170
• Publication Date: 2021-04-29T03:55:11Z
• Authors: Pengfei Han; Clemens Roitzsch; Annette Horstmann; Maria Pössel; Thomas Hummel
• Keywords: Male; 2. Zero hunger; Brain Mapping; Brain; 16. Peace & justice; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; General medicine, internal medicine and other clinical medicine; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Reward; Odorants; Psychology; Humans; Female; Obesity; 3143 Nutrition

ObjectiveFood odors serve as powerful stimuli signaling the food quality and energy density and direct food‐specific appetite and consumption. This study explored obesity‐related brain activation in response to odors related to high‐ or low‐energy‐dense foods.MethodsSeventeen participants with obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2; 4 males and 13 females) and twenty‐one with normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2; 9 males and 12 females) underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan in which they received chocolate (high‐energy‐dense food) and cucumber (low‐energy‐dense food) odor stimuli. Participants’ olfactory and gustatory functions were assessed by the “Sniffin’ Sticks” and “Taste Strips” tests, respectively.ResultsCompared with normal‐weight controls, participants with obesity had lower odor sensitivity (phenylethyl alcohol) and decreased odor discrimination ability. However, participants with obesity demonstrated greater brain activation in response to chocolate compared with cucumber odors in the bilateral inferior frontal operculum and cerebellar vermis, right ventral anterior insula extending to putamen, right middle temporal gyrus, and right supramarginal areas.ConclusionsThe present study provides preliminary evidence that obesity is associated with heightened brain activation of the reward and flavor processing areas in response to chocolate versus cucumber odors, possibly because of the higher energy density and reinforcing value of chocolate compared with cucumber.