Docs Who Lift Brain changes and obesity
Oct 24, 2023
Dr. Kathleen Keller, researcher studying taste preferences and food choices in kids, discusses brain signaling in relation to obesity. The podcast explores childhood food preferences, brain changes and obesity through functional MRI, challenges and resilience in obesity, repeated exposure to develop food preferences, and the importance of helping people with obesity.
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Food Ads Suppress Kids’ Decision Brain
- Functional MRI measures blood-flow changes that correlate with neural activity and can reveal how children respond to food cues.
- Dr. Kathleen Keller found food commercials reduce prefrontal cortex activation, which may impair decision-making and increase impulsive eating.
Executive Function Protects Against Overeating
- Strong executive function (inhibitory control, working memory) protects children from overeating in lab tests.
- These cognitive skills map to prefrontal cortex function, the same region dampened by food advertising.
Hunger Signals Vary Biologically In Kids
- Interoceptive processing (sensing hunger, fullness) varies between children and influences appetite drive.
- Some children are biologically very hungry from infancy and may cry or feed vigorously, complicating feeding recommendations.