Mild hypoglycemia preferentially activated limbic-striatal brain regions and significantly increased hunger ratings (5.7 vs 4.5, P=0.009) and desire for high-calorie foods compared to euglycemia.
Does mild hypoglycemia alter neural control and increase the desire for high-calorie foods in obese and nonobese individuals?
Circulating glucose modulates neural control over food motivation, and the glucose-linked restraining influence of the medial prefrontal cortex is lost in obesity.
Absolute Event Rate: 5.7% vs 4.5%
p-value: p=0.009
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic resulting in part from the ubiquity of high-calorie foods and food images. Whether obese and nonobese individuals regulate their desire to consume high-calorie foods differently is not clear. We set out to investigate the hypothesis that circulating levels of glucose, the primary fuel source for the brain, influence brain regions that regulate the motivation to consume high-calorie foods. Using functional MRI (fMRI) combined with a stepped hyperinsulinemic euglycemic-hypoglycemic clamp and behavioral measures of interest in food, we have shown here that mild hypoglycemia preferentially activates limbic-striatal brain regions in response to food cues to produce a greater desire for high-calorie foods. In contrast, euglycemia preferentially activated the medial prefrontal cortex and resulted in less interest in food stimuli. Indeed, higher circulating glucose levels predicted greater medial prefrontal cortex activation, and this response was absent in obese subjects. These findings demonstrate that circulating glucose modulates neural stimulatory and inhibitory control over food motivation and suggest that this glucose-linked restraining influence is lost in obesity. Strategies that temper postprandial reductions in glucose levels might reduce the risk of overeating, particularly in environments inundated with visual cues of high-calorie foods.
Page et al. (Mon,) conducted a other in Healthy volunteers (obese and nonobese) (n=21). Mild hypoglycemia via stepped hyperinsulinemic euglycemic-hypoglycemic clamp vs. Euglycemia (target ~90 mg/dl) was evaluated on Hunger ratings (p=0.009). Mild hypoglycemia preferentially activated limbic-striatal brain regions and significantly increased hunger ratings (5.7 vs 4.5, P=0.009) and desire for high-calorie foods compared to euglycemia.