Cue reactivity and regulation of food intake.

A robust finding in eating research is the so-called counterregulation in restrained eaters. This means that while normal subjects eat less during a taste test, after they consumed a preload, restrained eaters consume more. An explanation is that food exposure causes stronger physiological preparatory reactivity in the restrained eaters. This reactivity is experienced as craving and leads to an increased food intake. To test this theory, 46 high and low restrained eaters were exposed to food or soap, while physiological measurements were made. Afterwards, the subjects performed a taste test, during which food intake was secretly measured. Unrestrained eaters showed an increase in heart rate, gastric activity, and saliva during food exposure; however, restrained eaters did not. Gastric activity significantly correlated with food intake. Group or exposure type did not influence food intake. It can be concluded that unrestrained eaters prepared for food intake, whereas the restrained eaters did not. A possible explanation is that restrained eaters used cognitive suppression to block physiologica

Selective visual attention for ugly and beautiful body parts in eating disorders

Body image disturbance is characteristic of eating disorders, and current treatments use body exposure to reduce bad body feelings. There is however little known about the cognitive effects of body exposure. In the present study, eye movement registration (electroculography) as a direct index of selective visual attention was used while eating symptomatic and normal control participants were exposed to digitalized pictures of their own body and control bodies. The data showed a decreased focus on their own 'beautiful' body parts in the high symptomatic participants, whereas inspection of their own 'ugly' body parts was given priority. In the normal control group a self-serving cognitive bias was found: they focused more on their own 'beautiful' body parts and less on their own 'ugly' body parts. When viewing other bodies the pattern was reversed: high symptom participants allocated their attention to the beautiful parts of other bodies, whereas normal controls concentrated on the ugly parts of the other bodies. From the present findings the hypothesis follows that a change in the processing of information might be needed for body exposure to be successful

The Effect of an Impulsive Personality on Overeating and Obesity: Current State of Affairs

The worldwide obesity epidemic brings with it health-related, psychological and social problems and consequently a dramatic increase in health costs. Something needs to be done to stop or even reverse this trend and psychological and environmental factors seem to be our best bet. One psychological factor with potential is impulsivity. Research in populations that typically overeat (the obese and Bulimia Nervosa patients), in populations that are typically impulsive (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder patients) and in healthy participants has indeed begun to indicate that impulsivity plays a role in the problem of overeating. However, more research including actual food intake and true experimental research is needed to conclude that impulsivity actually causes overeating in the short term and possibly overweight or even obesity in the long run

Impulsivity predicts treatment outcome in obese children

Treatment for obesity is still running short, particularly on the long term. However, some people do take advantage of treatments and are able to retain their weight loss. What makes the difference between those who can keep their weight loss and those who cannot? One possible predictor of relapse in obesity treatment is impulsivity. Overall, obese people are found to be more impulsive than lean people, especially obese binge eaters. Intuitively, it would make sense that the most impulsive people are less able to keep control over eating behaviour. Therefore, impulsivity could serve as an obstacle for treatment. In the present study impulsivity was measured with a behavioural task (the stop signal task) in 26 obese children. Overweight of the children was measured before and after treatment and at 6 and 12 months follow ups. The results show that impulsivity was related to overweight at all moments: The most impulsive children were the most overweight ones; even after 12 months. Moreover, impulsivity predicted therapy success: the most impulsive children lost less weight. Impulsivity appears to contribute to the difference between succeeding or failing in attempts to lose weight