Benjamin de Haas explains individual differences in eye movement patterns.
New Research In
Physical Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Edited by Todd F. Heatherton, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and accepted by the Editorial Board April 8, 2015 (received for review February 18, 2015)
Significance
Fructose compared with glucose may be a weaker suppressor of appetite. Here we sought to determine the effects of fructose versus glucose on brain, hormone, and appetitive responses to food cues and food-approach behavior. We show that the ingestion of fructose compared with glucose resulted in smaller increases in plasma insulin levels and greater brain responses to food cues in the visual cortex and left orbital frontal cortex. Ingestion of fructose versus glucose also led to greater hunger and desire for food and a greater willingness to give up long-term monetary rewards to obtain immediate high-calorie foods. These findings suggest that ingestion of fructose relative to glucose activates brain regions involved in attention and reward processing and may promote feeding behavior.
Abstract
Prior studies suggest that fructose compared with glucose may be a weaker suppressor of appetite, and neuroimaging research shows that food cues trigger greater brain reward responses in a fasted relative to a fed state. We sought to determine the effects of ingesting fructose versus glucose on brain, hormone, and appetitive responses to food cues and food-approach behavior. Twenty-four healthy volunteers underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions with ingestion of either fructose or glucose in a double-blinded, random-order cross-over design. fMRI was performed while participants viewed images of high-calorie foods and nonfood items using a block design. After each block, participants rated hunger and desire for food. Participants also performed a decision task in which they chose between immediate food rewards and delayed monetary bonuses. Hormones were measured at baseline and 30 and 60 min after drink ingestion. Ingestion of fructose relative to glucose resulted in smaller increases in plasma insulin levels and greater brain reactivity to food cues in the visual cortex (in whole-brain analysis) and left orbital frontal cortex (in region-of-interest analysis). Parallel to the neuroimaging findings, fructose versus glucose led to greater hunger and desire for food and a greater willingness to give up long-term monetary rewards to obtain immediate high-calorie foods. These findings suggest that ingestion of fructose relative to glucose results in greater activation of brain regions involved in attention and reward processing and may promote feeding behavior.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: kpage{at}usc.edu.
Author contributions: S.L. and K.A.P. designed research; S.L. and K.S. performed research; S.L., J.R.M., and K.A.P. analyzed data; and S.L., J.R.M., and K.A.P. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. T.F.H. is a Guest Editor invited by the Editorial Board.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1503358112/-/DCSupplemental.
- aDivision of Endocrinology and
- cDiabetes and Obesity Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089; and
- bDepartment of Psychology and
- dNeuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Edited by Todd F. Heatherton, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and accepted by the Editorial Board April 8, 2015 (received for review February 18, 2015)
Significance
Fructose compared with glucose may be a weaker suppressor of appetite. Here we sought to determine the effects of fructose versus glucose on brain, hormone, and appetitive responses to food cues and food-approach behavior. We show that the ingestion of fructose compared with glucose resulted in smaller increases in plasma insulin levels and greater brain responses to food cues in the visual cortex and left orbital frontal cortex. Ingestion of fructose versus glucose also led to greater hunger and desire for food and a greater willingness to give up long-term monetary rewards to obtain immediate high-calorie foods. These findings suggest that ingestion of fructose relative to glucose activates brain regions involved in attention and reward processing and may promote feeding behavior.
Abstract
Prior studies suggest that fructose compared with glucose may be a weaker suppressor of appetite, and neuroimaging research shows that food cues trigger greater brain reward responses in a fasted relative to a fed state. We sought to determine the effects of ingesting fructose versus glucose on brain, hormone, and appetitive responses to food cues and food-approach behavior. Twenty-four healthy volunteers underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions with ingestion of either fructose or glucose in a double-blinded, random-order cross-over design. fMRI was performed while participants viewed images of high-calorie foods and nonfood items using a block design. After each block, participants rated hunger and desire for food. Participants also performed a decision task in which they chose between immediate food rewards and delayed monetary bonuses. Hormones were measured at baseline and 30 and 60 min after drink ingestion. Ingestion of fructose relative to glucose resulted in smaller increases in plasma insulin levels and greater brain reactivity to food cues in the visual cortex (in whole-brain analysis) and left orbital frontal cortex (in region-of-interest analysis). Parallel to the neuroimaging findings, fructose versus glucose led to greater hunger and desire for food and a greater willingness to give up long-term monetary rewards to obtain immediate high-calorie foods. These findings suggest that ingestion of fructose relative to glucose results in greater activation of brain regions involved in attention and reward processing and may promote feeding behavior.
- fructose
- glucose
- fMRI
- food cue
- decision making
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: kpage{at}usc.edu.
Author contributions: S.L. and K.A.P. designed research; S.L. and K.S. performed research; S.L., J.R.M., and K.A.P. analyzed data; and S.L., J.R.M., and K.A.P. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. T.F.H. is a Guest Editor invited by the Editorial Board.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1503358112/-/DCSupplemental.
Neurobehavioral effects of fructose vs. glucose
Sign up for Article Alerts
Article Classifications
- Biological Sciences
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Jump to section
You May Also be Interested in
The distant rock has offered clues about planet formation and the state of the early solar system.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/ESA.
Researchers report negative emotional contagion, or the coordination of emotional states between multiple individuals, in common ravens, suggesting convergent emotional evolution in birds and mammals.
Image courtesy of Jessie E. C. Adriaense.
A study examines trends in global fishing fleets and finds that by 2015, 68% of the global fishing fleet became motorized, and that the overall number of fleet vessels increased to 3.7 million, despite a consistent decrease in the catch per unit of effort.
Image courtesy of Pixabay/3282700.
A method to determine gender from fingerprints suggests pottery making was not a primarily female activity in ancient Puebloan society, challenging previous assumptions about gendered divisions of labor in ancient societies.
Image courtesy of John Kantner.