Effects of Images Following Beverage Ingestion on Brain Activation

The primary purpose of this study is to quantify activation of regions of the brain associated with taste, appetite, and reward after viewing high sugar and high fat (HS/HF) images compared to control images following ingestion of (1) an artificially sweetened solution, (2) a sucrose solution, and (3) a tasteless control solution in normal weight vs. obese women. This is a repeated measures study design; hence, data are collected on three days corresponding to the three solutions. Body mass index (BMI) is a between subjects measure. 1. After consuming an artificially sweetened solution and a sucrose solution compared to a tasteless solution, viewing HS/HF food images vs. control images will result in higher activation of taste pathways (frontal operulum and anterior insula (FO/AI)) in the brain. 2. After consumption of a sucrose solution compared to an artificially sweetened solution and a tasteless solution, viewing HS/HF food images vs. control images will result in higher activation of regions of the brain associate with appetite (hypothalamus). 3. After consumption of a sucrose solution compared to an artificially sweetened solution and a tasteless solution, viewing HS/HF food images vs. control images will result in higher activation of regions of the brain associated with reward \[amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), Orbitalfrontal Cortex (OFC), and ventral tegmental area (VTA), striatum, insula\] in obese but not normal weight women. After consuming an artificially sweetened solution compared to a tasteless solution, viewing HS/HF images vs. control images will result in no differences in activation of reward pathways of the brain.