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Training in cognitive strategies reduces eating and improves food choice.

ABSTRACT: Obesity rates continue to rise alarmingly, with dire health implications. One contributing factor is that individuals frequently forgo healthy foods in favor of inexpensive, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. One important mechanism underlying these choices is food craving: Craving increases with exposure to unhealthy foods (and food cues, such as advertisements) and prospectively predicts eating and weight. Prior work has shown that cognitive regulation strategies that emphasize the negative consequences of unhealthy foods reduce craving. In Studies 1 and 2, we show that cognitive strategies also increase craving for healthy foods by emphasizing their positive benefits, and change food valuation (willingness to pay) for both healthy and unhealthy foods. In Studies 3 and 4, we demonstrate that brief training in cognitive strategies ("Regulation of Craving Training"; ROC-T) increases subsequent healthy (vs. unhealthy) food choices. This was striking because this change in food choices generalized to nontrained items. Importantly, in Study 5, we show that brief training in cognitive strategies also reduces food consumption by 93-121 calories. Consumed calories correlated with changes in food choice. Finally, in Study 6, we show that the training component of ROC-T is necessary, above and beyond any effect of framing. Across all studies (N_TOTAL = 1,528), we find that cognitive strategies substantially change craving and food valuation, and that training in cognitive strategies improves food choices by 5.4-11.2% and reduces unhealthy eating, including in obese individuals. Thus, these findings have important theoretical, public health, and clinical implications for obesity prevention and treatment.

SUBMITTER: Boswell RG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6275472 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Training in cognitive strategies reduces eating and improves food choice.

Boswell Rebecca G RG Sun Wendy W Suzuki Shosuke S Kober Hedy H

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20181112 48

Obesity rates continue to rise alarmingly, with dire health implications. One contributing factor is that individuals frequently forgo healthy foods in favor of inexpensive, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. One important mechanism underlying these choices is food craving: Craving increases with exposure to unhealthy foods (and food cues, such as advertisements) and prospectively predicts eating and weight. Prior work has shown that cognitive regulation strategies that emphasize the negative conseq ...[more]

PMID: 30420496

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Project description:Increased preference for immediate over delayed rewards and for risky over certain rewards has been associated with unhealthy behavioral choices. Motivated by evidence that enhanced cognitive control can shift choice behavior away from immediate and risky rewards, we tested whether training executive cognitive function could influence choice behavior and brain responses. In this randomized controlled trial, 128 young adults (71 male, 57 female) participated in 10 weeks of training with either a commercial web-based cognitive training program or web-based video games that do not specifically target executive function or adapt the level of difficulty throughout training. Pretraining and post-training, participants completed cognitive assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of the following validated decision-making tasks: delay discounting (choices between smaller rewards now vs larger rewards in the future) and risk sensitivity (choices between larger riskier rewards vs smaller certain rewards). Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no evidence that cognitive training influences neural activity during decision-making; nor did we find effects of cognitive training on measures of delay discounting or risk sensitivity. Participants in the commercial training condition improved with practice on the specific tasks they performed during training, but participants in both conditions showed similar improvement on standardized cognitive measures over time. Moreover, the degree of improvement was comparable to that observed in individuals who were reassessed without any training whatsoever. Commercial adaptive cognitive training appears to have no benefits in healthy young adults above those of standard video games for measures of brain activity, choice behavior, or cognitive performance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Engagement of neural regions and circuits important in executive cognitive function can bias behavioral choices away from immediate rewards. Activity in these regions may be enhanced through adaptive cognitive training. Commercial brain training programs claim to improve a broad range of mental processes; however, evidence for transfer beyond trained tasks is mixed. We undertook the first randomized controlled trial of the effects of commercial adaptive cognitive training (Lumosity) on neural activity and decision-making in young adults (N = 128) compared with an active control (playing on-line video games). We found no evidence for relative benefits of cognitive training with respect to changes in decision-making behavior or brain response, or for cognitive task performance beyond those specifically trained.

Project description:What is the role played by attentional load in eating? Does attending to an unrelated task generally lead to overeating, perhaps by preventing individuals from focusing on a goal to limit consumption? Or does such attentional diversion typically lead to reductions in eating, perhaps by preventing people from noticing tempting features of relevant food cues? Past research has supported each of these two propositions, but comparisons between existing studies have been hampered to the extent that various experimental manipulations differ in the degree to which they occupy attention, as well as differing in the particular type of attentional resources they exploit. To resolve existing discrepancies in the literature, in a series of studies, we made use of a working memory manipulation, the n-back task (Kirchner, 1958), that can be systematically modified to induce varying levels of cognitive load, allowing for rigorous comparisons of the effects of different levels of attentional load on eating. These studies revealed a complex pattern of results. Analysis of findings from three studies employing within-subjects designs documented a linear relationship, in that participants consumed less food when completing a higher cognitive-load task than when completing a lower cognitive-load task. Three studies employing between-subjects designs highlighted a less consistent pattern of results, but when combined in a mini-meta-analysis, suggested the opposite linear relationship, with participants assigned to higher cognitive-load conditions generally consuming more food than participants assigned to lower cognitive-load conditions. We conducted two additional studies to reconcile these conflicting patterns of data. Neither finding received unequivocal support, although both studies found that participants ate less when engaged in higher cognitive-load tasks than lower cognitive-load tasks. The precise nature of the relationship between attentional load and eating remains elusive.

Project description:To investigate the effect of an eight-week, home-based, personalized, computerized cognitive training program on sleep quality and cognitive performance among older adults with insomnia.Participants (n?=?51) were randomly allocated to a cognitive training group (n?=?34) or to an active control group (n?=?17). The participants in the cognitive training group completed an eight-week, home-based, personalized, computerized cognitive training program, while the participants in the active control group completed an eight-week, home-based program involving computerized tasks that do not engage high-level cognitive functioning. Before and after training, all participants' sleep was monitored for one week by an actigraph and their cognitive performance was evaluated.COMMUNITY SETTING: residential sleep/performance testing facility.Fifty-one older adults with insomnia (aged 65-85).Eight weeks of computerized cognitive training for older adults with insomnia.Mixed models for repeated measures analysis showed between-group improvements for the cognitive training group on both sleep quality (sleep onset latency and sleep efficiency) and cognitive performance (avoiding distractions, working memory, visual memory, general memory and naming). Hierarchical linear regressions analysis in the cognitive training group indicated that improved visual scanning is associated with earlier advent of sleep, while improved naming is associated with the reduction in wake after sleep onset and with the reduction in number of awakenings. Likewise the results indicate that improved "avoiding distractions" is associated with an increase in the duration of sleep. Moreover, the results indicate that in the active control group cognitive decline observed in working memory is associated with an increase in the time required to fall asleep.New learning is instrumental in promoting initiation and maintenance of sleep in older adults with insomnia. Lasting and personalized cognitive training is particularly indicated to generate the type of learning necessary for combined cognitive and sleep enhancements in this population.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00901641.

Project description:ImportanceIt remains controversial whether adhering to a vegan diet may be associated with a higher prevalence of disordered eating. Also, main food choice motives and their association with disordered eating in this population are still unknown.ObjectiveTo determine the association between disordered eating attitudes and food choice motives of individuals who follow a vegan diet.Design, setting, and participantsThis is a cross-sectional online survey conducted between September 2021 and January 2023. Individuals of both sexes, aged 18 years or older, following a vegan diet for at least 6 months, currently living in Brazil were recruited through advertisements on social media.ExposureAdherence to a vegan diet and food choice motives.Main outcomes and measuresDisordered eating attitudes and food choice motives.ResultsNine hundred seventy-one participants completed the online survey. Median (IQR) age and BMI of participants was 29 (24-36) years and 22.6 (20.3-24.9), respectively, and 800 participants (82.4%) were female. Most participants (908 respondents [94%]) were categorized with the lowest level of disturbed eating attitudes. "Need and hunger," "liking," "health," "habits," and "natural concerns" were the most important food choice motives in this population, while "affect regulation," "social norms," and "social image" were the less important ones. Adjusted models showed that "liking," "need and hunger," and "health" were associated with lower levels of disordered eating attitudes, while "price," "pleasure," "sociability," "traditional eating," "visual appeal," "social norms," "social image," "weight control," and "affect regulation" were associated with higher levels of disordered eating attitudes.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study, as opposed to previous suggestions, levels of disordered eating were very low among vegans, although certain food choice motives were associated with disordered eating attitudes. Understanding the motivations of adhering to diets that may impose restrictions, which include vegan diets, may help tailor interventions focused on promoting healthy eating and preventing or treating disordered eating.

Project description:Food-specific inhibition training (FSIT) is a computerised task requiring response inhibition to energy-dense foods within a reaction-time game. Previous work indicates that FSIT can increase the number of healthy foods (relative to energy-dense foods) children choose, and decrease calories consumed from sweets and chocolate. Across two studies, we explored the impact of FSIT variations (e.g., different response signals, different delivery modes) on children's food choices within a time-limited hypothetical food-choice task. In Study 1, we varied the FSIT Go/No-Go signals to be emotive (happy vs. sad faces) or neutral (green vs. red signs). One-hundred-and-fifty-seven children were randomly allocated to emotive-FSIT, neutral-FSIT, or a non-food control task. Children participated in groups of 4-15. No significant FSIT effects were observed on food choices (all values of p > 0.160). Healthy-food choices decreased over time regardless of condition (p < 0.050). The non-significant effects could be explained by lower accuracy on energy-dense No-Go trials than in previous studies, possibly due to distraction in the group-testing environment. In Study 2, we compared computer-based FSIT (using emotive signals) and app-based FSIT (using neutral signals) against a non-food control with a different sample of 206 children, but this time children worked one-on-one with the experimenter. Children's accuracy on energy-dense No-Go trials was higher in this study. Children in the FSIT-computer group chose significantly more healthy foods at post-training (M = 2.78, SE = 0.16) compared to the control group (M = 2.02, SE = 0.16, p = 0.001). The FSIT-app group did not differ from either of the other two groups (M = 2.42, SE = 0.16, both comparisons p > 0.050). Healthy choices decreased over time in the control group (p = 0.001) but did not change in the two FSIT groups (both p > 0.300) supporting previous evidence that FSIT may have a beneficial effect on children's food choices. Ensuring that children perform FSIT with high accuracy (e.g., by using FSIT in quiet environments and avoiding group-testing) may be important for impacts on food choices though. Future research should continue to explore methods of optimising FSIT as a healthy-eating intervention for children.

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Training in cognitive strategies reduces eating and improves food choice.

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Training in cognitive strategies reduces eating and improves food choice.

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