Altered frontal inter-hemispheric resting state functional connectivity is associated with bulimic symptoms among restrained eaters

作者：Chen, Shuaiyu; Dong, Debo; Jackson, Todd; Su, Yanhua; Chen, Hong^*

来源：Neuropsychologia, 2016, 81: 22-30.

DOI：10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.036

• Restrained eating
• Resting-state fMRI
• Inhibitory control
• Reward
• Bulimia nervosa symptoms
• VMHC

Theory and research have indicated that restrained eating (RE) increases risk for binge-eating and eating disorder symptoms. According to the goal conflict model, such risk may result from disrupted hedonicfeeding control and its interaction with reward-driven eating. However, RE-related alterations in functional interactions among associated underlying brain regions, especially between the cerebral hemispheres, have rarely been examined directly. Therefore, we investigated inter-hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) among female restrained eaters (REs) (n=23) and unrestrained eaters (UREs) (n=24) following food deprivation as well as its relation to overall bulimia nervosa (BN) symptoms using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC). Seed-based RSFC associated with areas exhibiting significant VMHC differences was also assessed. Compared to UREs, REs showed reduced VMHC in the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), an area involved in inhibiting hedonic overeating. REs also displayed decreased RSFC between the right DLPFC and regions associated with reward estimation - the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Finally, bulimic tendencies had a negative correlation with VMHC in the DLPFC and a positive correlation with functional connectivity (DLPFC and VMPFC) among REs but not UREs. Findings suggested that reduced inter-hemispheric functional connectivity in appetite inhibition regions and altered functional connectivity in reward related regions may help to explain why some REs fail to control hedonically-motivated feeding and experience higher associated levels of BN symptomatology.

• 出版日期2016-1-29
• 单位西南大学