Social isolation, brain food cue processing, eating behaviors, and mental health symptoms
Perceived social isolation has been linked to several negative health outcomes, such as obesity, alterations in eating behaviors, and psychological symptoms. However, the neural mechanisms governing these associations remain unclear. In this study by Zhang et al. (2024), the authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis to explore this relationship using a sample of healthy, premenopausal female participants, aiming to assess brain reactivity to food cues, eating behaviors, obesity, and mental health symptoms. While engaging in a food cue viewing task, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examined the participants. Analysis of the results from 93 participants revealed that higher perceived social isolation was associated with increased fat mass percentage, poorer diet quality, and elevated maladaptive eating behaviors, such as cravings and food addiction. Additionally, participants reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and reduced psychological resilience. Analysis of brain imaging data demonstrated that higher social isolation leads to alterations in neural responses to food cues in regions associated with executive control, internal appetite regulation, and visual attention networks. Notably, changes in neural responses to sweet foods were linked to various psychological symptoms and maladaptive eating behaviors. These altered brain responses mediated the relationship between social isolation and negative health outcomes, including diminished positive affect and increased body fat composition. The authors comment that their findings highlight the impact of social isolation on the neural processing of food cues and its implications for eating behaviors, obesity, and mental health. The study emphasizes the importance of comprehensive interventions targeting both mind and body to address the adverse effects of social isolation on health. [NPID: Perceived social isolation, negative health outcomes, altered eating behaviors, obesity, psychological symptoms, brain reactivity, food cues, maladaptive eating behaviors, mental health]
Year: 2024
