Training response inhibition to reduce food consumption: Mechanisms, stimulus specificity and appropriate training protocols.

Published onlineJournal ArticleThis is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Training individuals to inhibit their responses towards unhealthy foods has been shown to reduce food intake relative to a control group. Here we aimed to further explore these effects by investigating the role of stimulus devaluation, training protocol, and choice of control group. Restrained eaters received either inhibition or control training using a modified version of either the stop-signal or go/no-go task. Following training we measured implicit attitudes towards food (Study 1) and food consumption (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 1 we used a modified stop-signal training task with increased demands on top-down control (using a tracking procedure and feedback to maintain competition between the stop and go processes). With this task, we found no evidence for an effect of training on implicit attitudes or food consumption, with Bayesian inferential analyses revealing substantial evidence for the null hypothesis. In Study 2 we removed the feedback in the stop-signal training to increase the rate of successful inhibition and revealed a significant effect of both stop-signal and go/no-go training on food intake (compared to double-response and go training, respectively) with a greater difference in consumption in the go/no-go task, compared with the stop-signal task. However, results from an additional passive control group suggest that training effects could be partly caused by increased consumption in the go control group whereas evidence for reduced consumption in the inhibition groups was inconclusive. Our findings therefore support evidence that inhibition training tasks with higher rates of inhibition accuracy are more effective, but prompt caution for interpreting the efficacy of laboratory-based inhibition training as an intervention for behaviour change.This project was supported by a PhD studentship from the School of Psychology, Cardiff University (to R. Adams) and a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grant (BB/K008277/1) to C. Chambers and F. Verbruggen. F Verbruggen is supported by a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC Grant Agreement No. 312445. R. Adams was principally responsible for all parts of the paper. N. Lawrence, F. Verbruggen and C. Chambers made substantial contributions to all parts of the paper. C. Chambers was senior author and oversaw the project

Winning and losing: Effects on impulsive action

In the present study, we examined the effect of wins and losses on impulsive action in gambling (Experiments 1-3) and non-gambling tasks (Experiments 4-5). In each experiment, subjects performed a simple task in which they had to win points. On each trial, they had to choose between a gamble and a non-gamble. The gamble was always associated with a higher amount but a lower probability of winning than the non-gamble. After subjects indicated their choice (i.e. gamble or not), feedback was presented. They had to press a key to start the next trial. Experiments 1-3 showed that, compared to the non-gambling baseline, subjects were faster to initiate the next trial after a gambled loss, indicating that losses can induce impulsive actions. In Experiments 4 and 5, subjects alternated between the gambling task and a neutral decision-making task in which they could not win or lose points. Subjects were faster in the neutral decision-making task if they had just lost in the gambling task, suggesting that losses have a general effect on action. Our results challenge the dominant idea that humans become more cautious after suboptimal outcomes. Instead, they indicate that losses in the context of potential rewards are emotional events that increase impulsivity.This work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council Grant (ES/J00815X/1) to FV, CDC & IPLM, a starting grant to FV from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ ERC Grant Agreement No. 312445, and a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grant (BB/K008277/1) to CDC and FV

Training motor responses to food: A novel treatment for obesity targeting implicit processes.

PublishedREVIEWJOURNAL ARTICLEThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The present review first summarizes results from prospective brain imaging studies focused on identifying neural vulnerability factors that predict excessive weight gain. Next, findings from cognitive psychology experiments evaluating various interventions involving food response inhibition training or food response facilitation training are reviewed that appear to target these neural vulnerability factors and that have produced encouraging weight loss effects. Findings from both of these reviewed research fields suggest that interventions that reduce reward and attention region responses to high calorie food cues and increase inhibitory region responses to high calorie food cues could prove useful in the treatment of obesity. Based on this review, a new conceptual model is presented to describe how different cognitive training procedures may contribute to modifying eating behavior and important directions for future research are offered. It is concluded that there is a need for evaluating the effectiveness of more intensive food response training interventions and testing whether adding such training to extant weight loss interventions increases their efficacy

Food addiction: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of overeating

This is the final version. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record. With the obesity epidemic being largely attributed to overeating, much research has been aimed at understanding the psychological causes of overeating and using this knowledge to develop targeted interventions. Here, we review this literature under a model of food addiction and present evidence according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) criteria for substance use disorders. We review several innovative treatments related to a food addiction model ranging from cognitive intervention tasks to neuromodulation techniques. We conclude that there is evidence to suggest that, for some individuals, food can induce addictive-type behaviours similar to those seen with other addictive substances. However, with several DSM-5 criteria having limited application to overeating, the term ‘food addiction’ is likely to apply only in a minority of cases. Nevertheless, research investigating the underlying psychological causes of overeating within the context of food addiction has led to some novel and potentially effective interventions. Understanding the similarities and differences between the addictive characteristics of food and illicit substances should prove fruitful in further developing these interventions.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilEuropean Research Counci

Pilot test of a novel food response and attention training treatment for obesity: Brain imaging data suggest actions shape valuation.

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Elevated brain reward and attention region response, and weaker inhibitory region response to high-calorie food images have been found to predict future weight gain. These findings suggest that an intervention that reduces reward and attention region response and increases inhibitory control region response to such foods might reduce overeating. We conducted a randomized pilot experiment that tested the hypothesis that a multi-faceted food response and attention training with personalized high- and low-calorie food images would produce changes in behavioral and neural responses to food images and body fat compared to a control training with non-food images among community-recruited overweight/obese adults. Compared to changes observed in controls, completing the intervention was associated with significant reductions in reward and attention region response to high-calorie food images (Mean Cohen's d = 1.54), behavioral evidence of learning, reductions in palatability ratings and monetary valuation of high-calorie foods (p = 0.009, d's = 0.92), and greater body fat loss over a 4-week period (p = 0.009, d = 0.90), though body fat effects were not significant by 6-month follow-up. Results suggest that this multifaceted response and attention training intervention was associated with reduced reward and attention region responsivity to food cues, and a reduction in body fat. Because this implicit training treatment is both easy and inexpensive to deliver, and does not require top-down executive control that is necessary for negative energy balance obesity treatment, it may prove useful in treating obesity if future studies can determine how to create more enduring effects.National Institutes of Health grant DK-080760 supported this study. The National Institutes of Health had no role in the study design, collection, interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors thank the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging at the University of Oregon for their assistance with the fMRI scans

Meat disgust is negatively associated with meat intake - Evidence from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record Data Accessibility: The data are available here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FwJYYW2NJjOTzW70O7yKMxK67vVIBMAf/view?usp=sharing). After the review process we will upload the data on our institutional repository.Meat consumption is increasingly seen as unsustainable, unhealthy, and unethical. Understanding what factors help people reduce their meat intake is urgently needed. One such factor is meat disgust, a feeling reported by many vegetarians, and which could be a promising basis for meat reduction interventions. However, meat disgust and its impact on meat consumption is poorly understood. We examined meat disgust and its role in vegetarianism and reducing meat intake in a cross-sectional and longitudinal online study. We measured self-reported meat consumption, meat disgust (by self-report and Implicit Association Test), meat liking, self-control, and disgust sensitivity in N = 711 adults (57% omnivores, 28% flexitarians, 15% vegetarians) recruited from a community cohort. Results showed that 73% of vegetarians can be classified as 'meat disgusted', and that meat disgust predicted meat intake better than self-control in omnivores and flexitarians at baseline. Following up a sub-sample of participants (N = 197) after six months revealed that changes in meat intake over time were also associated with changes in meat disgust. This is the first study to quantify the impact of meat disgust on (changes in) meat consumption and its prevalence in the vegetarian and the general population. Our findings advance research into meat disgust and encourage the development of disgust-based interventions to reduce meat intake.University of Exete

What is trained during food go/no-go training? A review focusing on mechanisms and a research agenda

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Purpose of Review: During food go/no-go training, people consistently withhold responses toward no-go food items. We discuss how food go/no-go training may change people’s behavior toward no-go food items by comparing three accounts: (a) the training strengthens ‘top-down’ inhibitory control over food-related responses, (b) the training creates automatic ‘bottom-up’ associations between no-go food items and stopping responses, and (c) the training leads to devaluation of no-go food items. Recent Findings: Go/no-go training can reduce intake of food and choices for food and facilitate short-term weight loss. It appears unlikely that food go/no-go training strengthens top-down inhibitory control. There is some evidence suggesting the training could create automatic stop associations. There is strong evidence suggesting go/no-go training reduces evaluations of no-go food items. Summary: Food go/no-go training can change behavior toward food and evaluation of food items. To advance knowledge, more research is needed on the underlying mechanisms of the training, the role of attention during go/no-go training, and on when effects generalize to untrained food items.© The Author(s) 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. About this articl

Prefrontal brain stimulation during food-related inhibition training: effects on food craving, food consumption and inhibitory control

This is the final version. Available on open access from the Royal Society via the DOI in this recordData accessibility: The pre-registered study protocol, anonymised study data and JASP outputs are available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/2597q/).Modulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity using non-invasive brain stimulation has been shown to reduce food craving as well as food consumption. Using a preregistered design, we examined whether bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the DLPFC could reduce food craving and consumption in healthy participants when administered alongside the cognitive target of inhibitory control training. Participants (N = 172) received either active or sham tDCS (2 mA; anode F4, cathode F3) while completing a food-related Go/No-Go task. State food craving, ad-lib food consumption and response inhibition were evaluated. Compared with sham stimulation, we found no evidence for an effect of active tDCS on any of these outcome measures in a predominantly female sample. Our findings raise doubts about the effectiveness of single-session tDCS on food craving and consumption. Consideration of individual differences, improvements in tDCS protocols and multi-session testing are discussed.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)European Research CouncilWellcome Trus

A randomized controlled trial of inhibitory control training for smoking cessation and reduction

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Psychological Association via the DOI in this recordObjective: The high rates of illness and mortality associated with cigarette smoking necessitate the development of novel reduction and cessation treatments. Inhibitory control training (ICT) has recently emerged as a potentially efficacious intervention to reduce the consumption of alcohol and unhealthy food. This randomized controlled trial was the first to investigate the effect of Internet-delivered ICT on cigarette consumption in a community sample of heavy smokers. Method: For the present study, 107 adult smokers (mean age = 46.15 years; 57 female) who smoked a minimum of 10 cigarettes per day and met criteria for a moderate or severe tobacco use disorder were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated to receive go/no-go training in which either smoking stimuli (intervention) or nonsmoking stimuli (control) were paired with no-go signals and were instructed to complete 1 training session per day over a 2-week period. This trial was preregistered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12617000252314). Results: We found no significant differences between conditions on percentage of days abstinent or daily cigarette consumption, although there was a significant decrease in daily cigarette consumption across both conditions. Further, we found no significant moderating effects of impulsivity on the relationship between cigarette consumption and the 2 tasks. Conclusions: Although participants in both conditions reduced their daily cigarette consumption, the intervention task was no more successful than the control task was in achieving cigarette abstinence or reduction.Deakin Universit

A randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of smoking-related response inhibition training in smokers: A study protocol

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMC via the DOI in this recordsAvailability of data and materials: The syntax and full analysis plan will be made available on the Open Science Framework and the dataset made available by contacting the first author.Background: Smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of illness and premature death worldwide. Despite a variety of effective treatments, relapse rates remain high, and novel, innovative interventions are needed in order to reduce the global prevalence of smoking. Research has indicated that deficits in the ability to inhibit a response (referred to as response inhibition) is a predictor of relapse and subsequently, targeting this potentially modifiable risk factor may lead to improvements in smoking outcomes. Indeed, in recent years, stimulus-specific response inhibition training has emerged as a potentially efficacious intervention to reduce unwanted/unhealthy behaviours such as alcohol and unhealthy food consumption. As such, the present trial is the first to evaluate the real-world efficacy of response inhibition smoking training (INST) in a sample of adult heavy smokers. Methods/design: This randomised controlled trial will recruit nicotine dependent smokers aged between 18 and 60 using social media and advertisements in Victoria, Australia. The sample target was 150 to account for drop out and non-adherence. Once informed consent has been obtained, participants complete a range of baseline measures during a face to face interview. Participants are randomly allocated to one of two online training conditions: an intervention training group (INST), which requires participants to exercise response inhibition towards smoking-related stimuli; or an active control group, which requires participants to exercise response inhibition towards household items and does not include any smoking-related stimuli. They complete the first training session during the interview to ensure the training protocol is clear. Both groups are instructed to complete a further 13 training sessions (1 per day) at home on their computer and follow-up phone calls will be conducted at three time points: post-intervention, one-month and three months. The primary outcomes are: a) rates of smoking cessation and; b) reduction in the quantity of average daily smoking at post-intervention, one and three months follow-up. Discussion: There is a pressing need to develop novel and innovative smoking interventions. If proven to be effective, INST could make a highly cost-effective contribution to improvements in smoking intervention outcomes. Trial registration: The trial was prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 17th February 2017. Trial ID: ACTRN12617000252314.Deakin Universit