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Age-related functional changes in gustatory and reward processing regions: An fMRI study.

ABSTRACT: Changes in appetite in older adults may result in unhealthy weight change and negatively affect overall nutrition. Research examining gustatory processing in young adults has linked changes in patterns of the hemodynamic response of gustatory and motivation related brain regions to the physiological states of hunger and satiety. Whether the same brain regions are involved in taste processing in older adults is unknown. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine age-related changes in gustatory processing during hedonic assessment. Caffeine, citric acid, sucrose, and NaCl were administered orally during two event-related fMRI sessions, one during hunger and one after a pre-load. Participants assessed the pleasantness of the solutions in each session. Increased activity of the insula was seen in both age groups during hunger. Activity of secondary and higher order taste processing and reward regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and caudate nucleus was also observed. Hunger and satiety differentially affected the hemodynamic response, resulting in positive global activation during hunger and negative during satiety in both age groups. While in a state of hunger, the frequency and consistency of positive activation in gustatory and reward processing regions was greater in older adults. Additional regions not commonly associated with taste processing were also activated in older adults. Investigating the neurological response of older adults to taste stimuli under conditions of hunger and satiety may aid in understanding appetite, health, and functional changes in this population.

SUBMITTER: Jacobson A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121194 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Age-related functional changes in gustatory and reward processing regions: An fMRI study.

Jacobson Aaron A Green Erin E Murphy Claire C

NeuroImage 20100520 2

Changes in appetite in older adults may result in unhealthy weight change and negatively affect overall nutrition. Research examining gustatory processing in young adults has linked changes in patterns of the hemodynamic response of gustatory and motivation related brain regions to the physiological states of hunger and satiety. Whether the same brain regions are involved in taste processing in older adults is unknown. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examin ...[more]

PMID: 20472070

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Project description:Purpose: To assess age-related changes in intrinsic functional brain connectivity and hemodynamics during adulthood in the context of the retrogenesis hypothesis, which states that the rate of age-related changes is higher in late-myelinating (prefrontal, lateral-posterior temporal) cerebrocortical areas as compared to early myelinating (parietal, occipital) regions. In addition, to examine the dependence of age-related changes upon concurrent subclinical depression symptoms which are common even in healthy aging. Methods: Sixty-four healthy adults (28 men) aged 23-79 years (mean 45.0, SD = 18.8 years) were examined. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) time series were used to compute voxel-wise intrinsic connectivity contrast (ICC) maps reflecting the strength of functional connectivity between each voxel and the rest of the brain. We further used Time Shift Analysis (TSA) to estimate voxel-wise hemodynamic lead or lag for each of 22 ROIs from the automated anatomical atlas (AAL). Results: Adjusted for depression symptoms, gender and education level, reduced ICC with age was found primarily in frontal, temporal regions, and putamen, whereas the opposite trend was noted in inferior occipital cortices (p < 0.002). With the same covariates, increased hemodynamic lead with advancing age was found in superior frontal cortex and thalamus, with the opposite trend in inferior occipital cortex (p < 0.002). There was also evidence of reduced coupling between voxel-wise intrinsic connectivity and hemodynamics in the inferior parietal cortex. Conclusion: Age-related intrinsic connectivity reductions and hemodynamic changes were demonstrated in several regions-most of them part of DMN and salience networks-while impaired neurovascular coupling was, also, found in parietal regions. Age-related reductions in intrinsic connectivity were greater in anterior as compared to posterior cortices, in line with implications derived from the retrogenesis hypothesis. These effects were affected by self-reported depression symptoms, which also increased with age.

Project description:BackgroundReward sensitivity has been proposed as a potential mediator of outcomes for bariatric surgery.ObjectivesWe aimed to determine whether gustatory and psychometric measures of reward-related feeding are predictors of bariatric-induced weight loss.MethodsA multicenter longitudinal cohort study was conducted in patients scheduled for bariatric surgery (surgical group), assessed at baseline and 2 follow-up assessments. Predictions of % weight loss from baseline (%WL) according to baseline gustatory measures, including intensity and pleasantness ratings of sweet and other tastants, and psychometric measures of reward-related feeding behavior, including hedonic hunger scores, were assessed with multivariable linear regression. Exploratory analyses were conducted to test for associations between %WL and changes in gustatory and psychophysical measures, as well as for comparisons with data from patients on the surgery waiting list (control group).ResultsWe included 212 patients, of whom 96 in the surgical group and 50 in the control group were prospectively assessed. The groups were similar at baseline and, as expected, bariatric surgery resulted in higher %WL (BTreatment-Time = 2.4; 95% CI: 2.1-2.8; P < 0.0001). While variation in gustatory measures did not differ between groups, in the surgery group baseline sweet intensity predicted %WL at the primary endpoint (11 to 18 months postoperatively; β = 0.2; B = 0.2, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.3; P = 0.02), as did hedonic hunger scores (β = -0.2; B = -2.0, 95% CI: -3.8 to -0.3; P = 0.02). Furthermore, at this endpoint, postsurgical reduction of sweet taste intensity and acceptance of sweet foods were associated with %WL (β = -0.3; B = -3.5, 95% CI: -5.8 to -1.3; P = 0.003, and β = -0.2; B = -4.7, 95% CI: -8.5 to -0.8; P = 0.02, respectively). The use of sweet intensity as a predictor of weight change was confirmed in another bariatric cohort.ConclusionsSweet intensity ratings and hedonic hunger scores predict %WL after surgery. The variability of sweet intensity ratings is also associated with %WL, further suggesting they may reflect physiological processes that are variably modulated by bariatric surgery, influencing clinical outcomes.

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Age-related functional changes in gustatory and reward processing regions: An fMRI study.

Publications

Age-related functional changes in gustatory and reward processing regions: An fMRI study.

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