PI: Chad D. Jensen
Co-PI: Brock Kirwan
Abstract
Pediatric Obesity represents a significant public health concern, with estimates of prevalence indicating that over 30 percent of adolescents meet criteria for overweight or obesity (Ogden et al., 2014). Recent research has highlighted the role of sleep behavior in the development of obesity. This study examined differences in neural responses to visual food stimuli under habitual and sleep-deprived conditions using a within-subjects experimentally manipulated sleep duration modification paradigm.
Achievement of Academic Objectives
We achieved our academic study aims as outlined in the original proposal. First, we completed a topical review of MRI research methods and their application in pediatric psychology which was recently published in an academic journal (citation below). Next, we met our participant accrual aims and were able to conduct the study analyses as planned. Finally, we have a complete draft of the first manuscript resulting from this study and it will be submitted for peer-review within the next month (see paper title below). Several academic conference presentations have resulted from the project as detailed below.
Jensen, C. D., Duraccio, K. M.**, Carbine, K. A.*, & Kirwan, C. B. (2016) Topical Review:
Unique contributions of magnetic resonance imaging to pediatric psychology research.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 41(2), 204-209. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsv065.
Jensen, C. D., Duraccio, K. M., Barnett, K. A., Carbine, K. A., Stevens, K. S., & Kirwan, C. B.
(manuscript in preparation) Sleep duration is associated with brain response to food
images in adolescents.
Evaluation of the Mentoring Environment
Mentored students participated in all aspects of the research, including experimental design, data acquisition and analysis, presenting research findings at academic conferences, and preparing study results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Four of the mentored students completed a course in MRI data acquisition and analysis (Psych 513R) and these four also completed Level 3 Operator certification at the BYU MRI Research Facility, allowing them to conduct MRI scans independently. Moreover, graduate and senior undergraduate students effectively mentored more junior students in MRI research. One of the students who was an undergraduate at the time of this award is currently a doctoral student in psychology at BYU (Kaylie Carbine) and another (Kimberly Monroe) is currently applying for doctoral programs in clinical psychology. This MEG award has facilitated outstanding training for students in my lab.
List of Mentored Students and Academic Deliverables
Kara Duraccio, Kimberly Barnett, Kaylie Carbine, Kimberly Monroe, Emma Pence,
Michaela Billat, Aaron Miller
Duraccio, K. M., Billat, M., Barnett, K. A., & Jensen, C. D. (2017, April). The influence of sleep
duration on hedonic reward of food in normal and overweight adolescents. Poster to be
presented at the 2017 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
Jensen, C. D., Duraccio, K. M., Carbine, K. A., Barnett, K. A., Monroe, K., Kirwan, C. B., &
Jensen, C. D. (2015, November). Effects of sleep duration on neural response to food
images in adolescents. Poster presented at the Obesity Week 2016, New Orleans, LA.
Barnett, K. A. , Duraccio, K. M., Monroe, K., Miller, A., Duncombe, K. M., & Jensen, C. D.
(2016, April). Effect of sleep duration on food-related executive control in adolescents.
Poster presented at the 2016 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference,
Atlanta, GA.
Monroe, K. S., Miller, A., Duraccio, K. M., Barnett, K. A., & Jensen, C. D. (2016, April). Effects
of restricted sleep duration on physical activity and caloric intake in adolescents. Poster
presented at the 2016 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Descriptions of Findings of the Project
The first aim of this study was to examine whether neural responses to high- and low-energy foods in brain regions associated with appetite and food differed after periods of normal and restricted sleep. Consistent with our hypotheses, results demonstrated a significant main effect for food type, with greater activation to high- relative to low-energy foods in several ROIs associated with appetite and food reward (i.e., left and right amygdala, left and right fusiform gyrus, and the left and right parahippocampal gyrus, right visual stream, left and right middle frontal cortex, and right superior frontal cortex). Furthrmore, we observed an interaction between sleep duration and food type in two brain regions, such that greater activation was observed for high-energy foods when sleep deprived. These findings suggest that sleep deprivation increases hedonic value for high energy foods in adolescents. Contrary to our hypotheses, adolescents did not differ in their food-related inhibition across the two sleep conditions. In summary, our findings suggest that sleep-deprived adolescents demonstrate greater reward-related neural responsing to high energy foods compared to when they are well rested but they do not show differences in inhibitory brain regions, perhaps suggesting that there is not any compensatory inhibition to mitigate the higher consumatory motivation for high-energy food when sleep restricted.
Description of Budget Expenditures
Our budget was primarily used to support undergraduate student wages. We originally budgeted $900 for student conference travel but these students all received travel support from the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences for conference travel so this money was realocated for student wages instead. Costs to conduct neuroimaging represented the second largest expense of the study. Participant incentives were the final budget line item.
