Increased functional connectivity in reward-related brain regions in children with low peripheral insulin sensitivity

Introduction In children with obesity, viewing of food images elicits heightened brain responses in regions involved in reward processing. This activation seems to facilitate weight gain and the development of diabetes. The current study investigates changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) during a food cue reactivity task before and after a glucose ingestion in children with low and high insulin sensitivity.

Methods Data from 53 children (36 females) with normal-weight, overweight and obesity between 7-11 years old were analysed. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed to estimate the children’s insulin sensitivity (ISI-Matsuda: 0.94-26.57). Neural processing to food vs. non-food pictures was measured with fMRI before and 30 min after a glucose ingestion in a separate session. Statistical analysis was performed using a factorial design with ‘before/after glucose ingestion’ as a within-subject factor and two between subject factors (high/low ISI (median split)) and male/female), and two covariates (age and BMIz).

Results We found increased FC between reward-related regions in children with lower ISI independent of prandial state (pFWE<0.05). Moreover, we observed an interaction between ISI and prandial state (pFWE<0.05). Only children with high ISI increased FC between cognitive and reward-related regions from the fasted to the postprandial state.

Conclusions Our results highlight the role of peripheral insulin sensitivity in children independent of BMI in neural processing of food cues, with a heightened reward network connectivity and lower cognitive network connectivity in the postprandial state. These differences might influence eating behavior and future risk of developing diabetes.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
02. Mai 2023