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European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 5/2021

01-08-2021 | Obesity | Original Paper

BDNF influences neural cue-reactivity to food stimuli and food craving in obesity

Authors: Jan Malte Bumb, Patrick Bach, Martin Grosshans, Xenija Wagner, Anne Koopmann, Sabine Vollstädt-Klein, Rilana Schuster, Klaus Wiedemann, Falk Kiefer

Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience | Issue 5/2021

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Abstract

There is increasing evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) impacts on the development of obesity. We are the first to test the hypothesis that BDNF levels might be associated with neural reactivity to food cues in patients suffering from obesity and healthy controls. We assessed visual food cue-induced neural response in 19 obese patients and 20 matched controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging and analyzed the associations between BDNF levels, food cue-reactivity and food craving. Whole-brain analysis in both groups revealed that food cues elicited higher neural activation in clusters of mesolimbic brain areas including the insula (food > neutral). Patients suffering from obesity showed a significant positive correlation between plasma BDNF levels and visual food cue-reactivity in the bilateral insulae. In addition, patients suffering from obesity with positive food cue-induced insula activation also reported significantly higher food craving than those with low cue-reactivity—an effect that was absent in normal weight participants. The present findings implicate that BDNF levels in patients suffering from obesity might be involved in food craving and obesity in humans. This highlights the importance to consider BDNF pathways when investigating obesity and obesity treatment.
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Metadata
Title
BDNF influences neural cue-reactivity to food stimuli and food craving in obesity
Authors
Jan Malte Bumb
Patrick Bach
Martin Grosshans
Xenija Wagner
Anne Koopmann
Sabine Vollstädt-Klein
Rilana Schuster
Klaus Wiedemann
Falk Kiefer
Publication date
01-08-2021
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience / Issue 5/2021
Print ISSN: 0940-1334
Electronic ISSN: 1433-8491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-020-01224-w

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