Working Memory in Overweight Children With and Without Loss of Control Eating

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Loss of control (LOC) eating in children is associated with multiple physical and mental health impairments, including obesity and eating disorders. Little is known about the developmental neurobiology of LOC, which is crucial to specifying its pathophysiology and the development of effective preventive interventions. Individual differences in working memory (WM) appear to be related to LOC eating and excess weight status in youth, but the specificity and neural correlates of these individual differences are unclear. Failure to adequately understand the nature of associations between WM and eating behavior in children with overweight/obesity limits the development of appropriately-targeted, neuro-developmentally informed interventions addressing problematic eating and related weight gain in youth. To close this clinical research gap, the current study proposes to investigate the context-dependence of WM impairment and its neural correlates in children with concomitant overweight/ obesity and LOC eating as compared to their overweight/obese peers. Specific aims are to investigate: 1)WM performance in youth with LOC eating relative to overweight/obese controls during recalls in the context of food-related versus neutral distractors; and 2) neural activation patterns during WM performance across both food-related and neutral stimuli. We hypothesize that, relative to their overweight/obese peers, youth with LOC eating will show 1) more errors and slower response times during recalls involving food-related vs. neutral distractors, and fewer errors and faster response times during recalls involving food-related vs. neutral targets; 2) increased activation in prefrontal regions during WM performance across stimuli types relative to overweight/obese controls, and 3) even greater activation in the context of food-related versus neutral distractors. The proposed study is the first to use state-of-the-science neuroimaging methodology to clarify the relations between WM and LOC eating, with strong potential to advance understanding of the associations among executive functioning, excess weight status, and eating pathology, and inform the development of interventions (e.g., WM training) to alleviate their cumulative personal and societal burden.

Official Title
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Neural Substrates of Context-dependent Working Memory in Youth With Overweight/Obesity and Loss of Control Eating

Conditions
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Binge Eating, Pediatric Obesity

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Observational


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Overweight/Obese (>85% expected body mass) Right-handed Exclusion Criteria: Currently taking any medications known to affect their weight/appetite Report current or past medical or psychiatric conditions known to significantly affect eating or weight (e.g., diabetes, bulimia nervosa), with the exception of binge eating disorder Have an intelligence quotient (IQ) in the borderline range or lower, or any condition affecting executive functioning (e.g., recent concussion, history of traumatic brain injury) Are unable to read or comprehend study materials Are receiving concurrent treatment for overweight/obesity Have metallic foreign bodies, face or neck tattoos, or other conditions that would prohibit fMRI scanning

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 10 Years
Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Overweight/Obesity Control<br>Adolescents who have overweight/obesity, but do not report loss of control eating. | Other: Observational<br>* Observational data will be obtained through participant self-response, parental response, cognitive performance, and neural imaging.<br>|
| Overweight/Obesity Experimental<br>Adolescents who have overweight/obesity, and report loss of control eating. | Other: Observational<br>* Observational data will be obtained through participant self-response, parental response, cognitive performance, and neural imaging.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BMI | Body Mass Index calculated with height/weight (cm/g) | 1 day | 
| Eating Behavior | Eating behavior will be assessed using the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE), a semi-structured interview. | 1 day | 
| Neural Activity | Neural activation will be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data | Up to 2 weeks | 
| Working Memory | Working memory will be assessed using the NIH Toolbox list sort task. | 1 day | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Loss of Control Eating, Working Memory