Brain signals after a meal respond to food pictures more in obese than lean kids
A clinical trial at Seattle Children's Research Institute and University of Washington found that the brain responded to images of high-calorie foods differently in obese children who had just eaten than in those whose weight was normal. Called Brain Activation and Satiety in Children Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (BASIC fMRI), the study uses functional MRI (fMRI), a type of MRI that indirectly measures activities in different brain areas, said Christian Roth, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist and researcher at the research institute, who is overseeing the trial. "Our aim is to understand why some children with obesity still feel hungry after eating a meal," Roth said. "We want to better understand this tendency to overeat and gain insight into the brain signals causing it. Without a better understanding of the biological responses in the brain related to food intake, we may be unable to slow the childhood obesity epidemic." For the trial, which w...