The influence of weight and weight loss on homeostatic, mnestic and reward-related brain circuits in older adults (C03)

• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 222193485

Long-term weight loss maintenance is the main challenge of obesity treatment. The sustained regulation of hedonic food intake is thought to critically rely on metabolic and cognitive control. To disentangle the impact of both mechanisms on dietary choices in young and older dieters we plan to combine our established intranasal insulin protocols with an fMRI food choice task in which self-control is manipulated by focusing participants’ attention on short- (i.e. taste) and long- (i.e. healthiness) term stimuli features. The re-investigation of a large sample of older dieters and controls thereby allows for the identification of metabolic-cognitive profiles predictive for successful weight management after 3.5 years.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 134: Ingestive Behaviour: Homeostasis and Reward
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Lübeck
• Co-Applicant Institution: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Stefanie Brassen; Professor Dr. Christian Büchel, until 12/2017