Working Memory in Overweight Children With and Without Loss of Control Eating

NCT04117542 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1205595
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Loss of control (LOC) eating in children is associated with multiple physical and mental health impairments, including obesity and eating disorders. Little is known about the developmental neurobiology of LOC, which is crucial to specifying its pathophysiology and the development of effective preventive interventions. Individual differences in working memory (WM) appear to be related to LOC eating and excess weight status in youth, but the specificity and neural correlates of these individual differences are unclear. Failure to adequately understand the nature of associations between WM and eating behavior in children with overweight/obesity limits the development of appropriately-targeted, neuro-developmentally informed interventions addressing problematic eating and related weight gain in youth. To close this clinical research gap, the current study proposes to investigate the context-dependence of WM impairment and its neural correlates in children with concomitant overweight/ obesity and LOC eating as compared to their overweight/obese peers. Specific aims are to investigate: 1)WM performance in youth with LOC eating relative to overweight/obese controls during recalls in the context of food-related versus neutral distractors; and 2) neural activation patterns during WM performance across both food-related and neutral stimuli. We hypothesize that, relative to their overweight/obese peers, youth with LOC eating will show 1) more errors and slower response times during recalls involving food-related vs. neutral distractors, and fewer errors and faster response times during recalls involving food-related vs. neutral targets; 2) increased activation in prefrontal regions during WM performance across stimuli types relative to overweight/obese controls, and 3) even greater activation in the context of food-related versus neutral distractors. The proposed study is the first to use state-of-the-science neuroimaging methodology to clarify the relations between WM and LOC eating, with strong potential to advance understanding of the associations among executive functioning, excess weight status, and eating pathology, and inform the development of interventions (e.g., WM training) to alleviate their cumulative personal and societal burden.

Conditions

Binge Eating; Pediatric Obesity

Keywords

Loss of Control Eating; Working Memory

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• BMI

  Body Mass Index calculated with height/weight (cm/g)

  1 day

• Eating Behavior

  Eating behavior will be assessed using the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE), a semi-structured interview.

  1 day

• Neural Activity

  Neural activation will be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data

  Up to 2 weeks

• Working Memory

  Working memory will be assessed using the NIH Toolbox list sort task.

  1 day

Study Arms (2)

Overweight/Obesity Control

Adolescents who have overweight/obesity, but do not report loss of control eating.

Other: Observational

Overweight/Obesity Experimental

Adolescents who have overweight/obesity, and report loss of control eating.

Other: Observational

Interventions

Observational OTHER

Observational data will be obtained through participant self-response, parental response, cognitive performance, and neural imaging.

Overweight/Obesity Control; Overweight/Obesity Experimental

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be 30 children, ages 10-17, 15 of whom who are overweight/obese and report loss of control eating (i.e., at least 3 objectively or subjectively large loss of control episodes in the past 3 months), and 15 of whom who will serve as overweight/obese controls.

You may qualify if:

• Overweight/Obese (\>85% expected body mass)
• Right-handed

You may not qualify if:

• Currently taking any medications known to affect their weight/appetite
• Report current or past medical or psychiatric conditions known to significantly affect eating or weight (e.g., diabetes, bulimia nervosa), with the exception of binge eating disorder
• Have an intelligence quotient (IQ) in the borderline range or lower, or any condition affecting executive functioning (e.g., recent concussion, history of traumatic brain injury)
• Are unable to read or comprehend study materials
• Are receiving concurrent treatment for overweight/obesity
• Have metallic foreign bodies, face or neck tattoos, or other conditions that would prohibit fMRI scanning

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Miriam Hospital: lead
• Brown University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center

Providence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Bulimia; Pediatric Obesity

Interventions

Watchful Waiting

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hyperphagia; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Obesity; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Health Services Administration

Study Officials

• Andrea B. Goldschmidt, Ph.D.

  Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 2, 2019
• First Posted: October 7, 2019
• Study Start: October 18, 2018
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2020
• Study Completion: December 31, 2020
• Last Updated: February 23, 2021

Record last verified: 2019-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)