Anderson Eric C, Cantelon Julie A, Holmes Amanda, Giles Grace E, Brunyé Tad T, Kanarek Robin
Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
Center for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research, MaineHealth Institute for Research, Portland, ME, 04101, USA.
Heliyon. 2023 Feb 4;9(2):e13275. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13275. eCollection 2023 Feb.
The ability to regulate the intake of unhealthy foods is critical in modern, calorie dense food environments. Frontal areas of the brain, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), are thought to play a central role in cognitive control and emotional regulation. Therefore, increasing activity in the DLPFC may enhance these functions which could improve the ability to reappraise and resist consuming highly palatable but unhealthy foods. One technique for modifying brain activity is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive technique for modulating neuronal excitability that can influence performance on a range of cognitive tasks. We tested whether anodal tDCS targeting the right DLPFC would influence how people perceived highly palatable foods. In the present study, 98 participants were randomly assigned to receive a single session of active tDCS (2.0 mA) or sham stimulation. While receiving active or sham stimulation, participants viewed images of highly palatable foods and reported how pleasant it would be to eat each food (liking) and how strong their urge was to eat each food (wanting). We found that participants who received active versus sham tDCS stimulation perceived food as less pleasant, but there was no difference in how strong their urge was to eat the foods. Our findings suggest that modulating excitability in the DLPFC influences "liking" but not "wanting" of highly palatable foods. Non-invasive brain stimulation might be a useful technique for influencing the hedonic experience of eating but more work is needed to understand when and how it influences food cravings.
在现代高热量食物环境中，调节不健康食物摄入量的能力至关重要。大脑的额叶区域，如背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC），被认为在认知控制和情绪调节中起着核心作用。因此，增加DLPFC的活动可能会增强这些功能，从而提高重新评估和抵制食用美味但不健康食物的能力。一种改变大脑活动的技术是经颅直流电刺激（tDCS），这是一种用于调节神经元兴奋性的非侵入性技术，可影响一系列认知任务的表现。我们测试了针对右侧DLPFC的阳极tDCS是否会影响人们对美味食物的感知。在本研究中，98名参与者被随机分配接受单次主动tDCS（2.0 mA）或假刺激。在接受主动或假刺激时，参与者观看美味食物的图片，并报告吃每种食物会有多愉快（喜好程度）以及他们想吃每种食物的欲望有多强烈（渴望程度）。我们发现，接受主动tDCS刺激与假刺激的参与者认为食物的愉悦感较低，但他们想吃这些食物的欲望强度没有差异。我们的研究结果表明，调节DLPFC的兴奋性会影响对美味食物的“喜好”，但不会影响“渴望”。非侵入性脑刺激可能是一种影响饮食享乐体验的有用技术，但需要更多的研究来了解它何时以及如何影响食物渴望。
