Name: errors as a means of reducing impulsive food choice
Uploaded: 2016-06-05T14:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 7 min 7 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice at JoVE.com

This work was supported by a Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) grant from Ministero Istruzione Universit&#224; e Ricerca (PRIN 2010, protocol number: 2010XPMFW4_009) awarded to GdP. We are also grateful to Caterina Bertini and Raffaella Marino for proofreading the manuscript and performing in the video.

Ethics statement: All procedures described in this protocol were developed and tested following ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of the Psychology Department of Bologna University (see also the Declaration of Helsinki23,53).
1. Participants
<ol>
	<li>Select a sample of healthy young adult females.
	<ol>
		<li>Recruit participants who are not on a diet, not taking psychoactive drugs, free of current or past psychiatric or neurological illness as determined by history, and na&#239;ve as to the purpose of the experiment.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Invite volunteers to sit in a quiet room and collect their demographics, including gender, age, level of education, fasting hours, and height and weight.</li>
	<li>Calculate participants&#39; body mass index (BMI)45,54,55.</li>
</ol>
2. Hunger and Motivation Ratings
<ol>
	<li>Collect subjects&#39; self-ratings about their feeling of hunger at that very moment on an 11-point Likert scale56,57.</li>
	<li>Use a similar scale as the one used in the previous step for self-rating the motivation to consume at that very moment six foods, one by one. Choose these foods among those with high appetitive value58-62 in the female population (based on the cultural context).
	<ol>
		<li>Display the six foods in pictures, randomly, by using a slide show presentation program, so that their appearance and size match as much as possible those in the real word.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Food Stimuli Selection
<ol>
	<li>Select, individually for each participant, the two highest rated food items in the previous step.
	<ol>
		<li>Make sure, at the group level, that participants are equally motivated to eat the two foods, namely, that there is no significant difference between the two items in the motivation rating (see steps 2.2 and 2.2.1).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
4. Errors as a Way to Enhance Cognitive Control
<ol>
	<li>Use the Error task24 modified as follows to associate the two preselected stimuli with two different error rates.
	<ol>
		<li>Program and run the task with an appropriate stimulus delivery software, such as E-Prime. The task should last at least 15 min. See Supplemental Code Files for an example script.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Include two conditions in which one predicts (i.e., it cues) a Low probability of committing an Error (LE), namely, in which participants will make a small number of errors, and one predicts a High probability of committing an Error (HE), namely, in which participants will make a larger number of errors (see steps 4.5.2 and 4.5.3).
	<ol>
		<li>Use one of the two preselected food items as the cue for the LE condition (LEFood); use the other food item as the cue for the HE condition (HEFood). Intersperse, randomly, the same number of trials for both conditions.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Set the task so that each trial starts with a grayscale picture of one of the two food items, that, after 1,000 msec, becomes colored (Go signal), thus requiring the subject to respond.
	<ol>
		<li>For 33% of the total number of trials, superimpose a red circle on the colored image (Stop signal) after a variable stop-signal delay (SSD) (see section 4.4) relative to the Go signal onset, thus requiring the subject not to respond.</li>
		<li>Once the Stop signal appears, leave both Go and Stop signals on the screen for a maximum response time of 1,000 msec after the Go signal onset (time window in which subjects are allowed to respond).</li>
		<li>After giving a feedback (see step 4.4.), separate the trials with a blank screen of variable interstimulus interval (500-2,000 msec).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Instruct participants to respond to the Go signal as quickly as possible via button press, and to refrain when a Stop signal occurs. Instruct them about all possible feedback (i.e., &#39;&#39;Correct!&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;Error!&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;Too early!&#39;&#39;).</li>
	<li>Define the error likelihoods for the LE and the HE conditions by changing their SSDs independently, by the means of a staircase algorithm, based on participant&#39;s performance. The LE has shorter SSDs, whereas the HE has longer SSDs24.
	<ol>
		<li>Start the SSD at 200 msec in both LE and HE after the first Go signal onset.</li>
		<li>During the LE, increase the SSD by 5 msec on the subsequent trial if the subject succeeds in avoiding the button press after the Stop signal; decrease the SSD by 50 msec on the subsequent trial if the subject fails.</li>
		<li>During the HE, increase the SSD by 50 msec on the next trial if the subject succeeds, otherwise, decrease the SSD by 50 msec on the next trial if the subject fails63.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>For the analyses, compare Go and Stop trials and LE and HE conditions for accuracy and response time24. Do not consider missed responses. Use Statistica or any other statistical software to analyze the data.</li>
</ol>
5. Intertemporal Choice as a Measure of Cognitive Control
<ol>
	<li>Administer participants two Temporal Discounting tasks, separately and in a counterbalanced order, soon after the Error task ends (see below for details). Measure in one Temporal Discounting task the subjective value for the LEFood, and in the other the subjective value for the HEFood. Run the tasks on E-Prime or any other stimulus delivery software. See Supplemental Code Files for an example script.
	<ol>
		<li>In each task, present participants, on each trial, a choice between 40 units of fictive food25,64,65 that can be obtained after a variable delay (i.e., 2 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year, for a total of six delay conditions25,66,67) and a smaller amount of the same food available in the immediate present.</li>
		<li>Include five choices in each delay condition. Deliver blocks of choices pertaining to the six delay conditions in a random order across subjects.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Instruct participants to make a choice between the two options by imagining to receive the specified amount of reward at the specified time, and to indicate their preference by pressing one of two buttons25,68.
	<ol>
		<li>Make clear to participants that they are making choices toward hypothetical foods; there are no correct or incorrect choices but they are free to choose the option they prefer the most; they have no time limit to decide, but they should make their choice as soon as they feel to prefer one reward more than the other.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Program the tasks so that, for each delay condition, the amount of the smaller-immediate option is adjusted, trial by trial, based on participants&#39; previous choice, using a titration procedure that converges on the amount of the immediate reward that has equivalent subjective value as the delayed reward25,67 (see steps 5.3.1 to 5.3.5).
	<ol>
		<li>First, always submit participants, for each delay condition, to a choice between 20 units (bites) of food available &#34;now&#34; and 40 units of the same food available at that specific delay67, so that, in the first trial of each delay condition participants always face a choice between these two specific amounts67.</li>
		<li>Then, decrease, after the first choice, the amount of the smaller option on the next trial if participant chose the smaller option in the previous trial, otherwise increase the amount of the smaller option on the next trial if the participant chose the larger option in the previous trial.</li>
		<li>Reduce the size of the adjustment of the smaller option with successive choices: The first adjustment is half of the difference between the smaller and the larger rewards, whereas for subsequent choices it is half of the previous adjustment23.</li>
		<li>Repeat the procedure in the above step until the participant has made five choices at one specific delay condition, after which the participant begins a new series of choices at another delay condition.</li>
		<li>For each trial in a block, consider the smaller immediate amount as the best guess as to the subjective value of the larger later reward. Therefore, take the immediate amount that would have been presented on the sixth trial of a delay block as the estimate of the subjective value of the later reward at that delay and use it for the analysis (i.e., the so-called indifference point; see step 5.6)25.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Fit, through nonlinear, least-squares analysis, the hyperbolic equation V = 1/(1 + kT) (i.e., V = subjective value; k = constant of the best fitting; T = time delay in days) to participants&#39; indifference points23, independently for each Temporal Discounting task. Do this in order to calculate the discount rate (k) of the subjective value for each reward under consideration as a function of time69-71. Use Statistica or any other statistical software to perform this non-linear estimation.</li>
	<li>Log-transform k values in order to normalize data, and then run parametric analyses23,25. 
	Note: A larger k value corresponds to a steeper discounting function, thereby indicating that the subjects are more inclined to choose the smaller-immediate option over the larger later one.</li>
	<li>Compare the k values for the LEFood and the HEFood by correcting for hunger rating, self-report questionnaire score of sensitivity to external edible cues (see step 6), and BMI45,54,55. Use Statistica or any other statistical software to analyze the data.</li>
</ol>
6. External Eating Behavior Subscale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQEEB)
<ol>
	<li>Use the DEBQEEB72 to measure volunteers&#39; sensitivity to external edible cues, to control for possible confounding during the experiment.</li>
</ol>
7. Debriefing
<ol>
	<li>Debrief participants as to the purpose of the experiment at the end of the session. Ask them if they were somehow aware of the error manipulation during the Error task and if they think they chose somehow in a different way during the Temporal Discounting tasks according to the two different foods. 
	Note: Any impressions or feelings about the entire procedure (e.g., whether they think there was an association between the two main tasks) are welcome.</li>
</ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

This article describes in detail a novel protocol aimed at reducing impulsive food choice in healthy young adult women. Critical steps in this protocol include sampling participants from the healthy female population, collecting self-report hunger level at the time of the experiment, selecting two foods with equivalent incentive value for each subject, submitting participants to an error task where each of two different error likelihoods (high and low, randomly interspersed across trials) are associated with one of the t...

Nowadays, it is crucial to help people face the rise of eating disorders1-4. These disorders reflect an overestimation of the incentive motivation associated with appetitive food, which induces individuals to seek and consume it as soon as possible (this has been shown especially with sweet high-fat foods5-6). This happens at the expense of future benefits that can result from being on a diet for a while, but for which the ability to exert eating control is necessary7-8. Indeed, people showing these abnormal behaviors have increased attentional bias toward edible cues9-10 and experience enhanced incentive value for primary rewards11. Moreover, even just looking at appetizing foodstuffs can cue the desire for consuming the food immediately, both in individuals with eating disorders and in the normal population12-13. In order to refrain from immediate gratification and not forego the long-term outcome (e.g., losing weight after a few months of diet), one must exercise great self-controlled and resist the innate, evolutionarily determined impulse to give into temptation and consume immediately. Exerting self-control, a concept that is interrelated to the notion of cognitive control in the field of the Neuroscience, means that one is capable of overcoming innate impulses for further consideration and, possibly, implementation of other, more appropriate behaviors14.
How do individuals engage in self-control strategies? Research has highlighted over the years that the capacity to refrain from automatic responses is heightened in error-full contexts15. Errors are well considered highly arousing and aversive events that, when encountered, elicit compensatory responses16. Specifically, they cue failure/loss in both performance and utility, thereby signaling that one needs to adjust levels of control over current and future behavior accordingly17. Moreover, errors can cue aversive learning, as a warning way to escape from error-prone, maladaptive behaviors, thus inducing the implementation of optimal choice responses18-21.
The present protocol shows how the association between tasty food items and errors can signal that engaging in a certain behavior would lead to a cost (i.e., reward loss), thus encouraging the implementation of compensatory self-control strategies, and thereby reducing impulsive food choice20,22. In the present protocol adapted from23, participants are preliminarily asked to self-report their hunger level at the time of the experiment and to rate six different food items. Based on the ratings, two foods with equivalent incentive value for each subject are selected for the subsequent task. Then, participants perform an error task (see reference24) in which the two previously selected food items cue different error rates (high and low) associated with performance: The error task is programmed so that in one trial condition, cued by one food, participants make a small number of errors, and in the other trial condition, cued by the other food, they make a much larger number of errors. Afterwards, participants&#39; intertemporal choice for each of the two primary rewards is measured (adapted from reference25). The ability to seek larger but delayed reinforcements instead of sooner gratification, which is crucial when facing tempting foods while being on a diet, is indeed crisply captured by intertemporal choice paradigms26. The longer the time one needs to wait for a good to be received and consumed, the more the subjective evaluation of this potential reward is weakened (i.e., the so-called temporal discounting phenomenon27-34). Poor decisions (i.e., higher propensity to choose close gratifications, namely increased temporal discounting for future gains) are considered as a core feature of impulsivity35 and a landmark of numerous disorders, including drug addiction and obesity36-45. After undergoing the procedure described in this protocol, participants show reduced impatient choice for the stimulus cueing high error rate, selectively. The effect is more evident when the hunger level reported by the subjects is low23. This occurs because hunger affects the immediate evaluation of food items46-49 by heightening the motivational value of primary rewards and, in turn, the discount rate of future amounts of those rewards7,50-52.
The advantage of this method first lies in its easy applicability. The error training preceding the intertemporal decision tasks is almost completely effortless, making it possible to be employed in diverse clinical settings. Second, the method produces the desired effect with hypothetical edible items, without the need to use real food. Third, participants were mainly unaware of the food-error association, making the subsequent effect on food preferences genuine, which might affect food decisions reliably in real life as well. Finally, participants tested in the study23 were all young females, but there is good reason to speculate that the effect of food-error pairing on intertemporal decisions would be the same on young males too, mainly because subjects in the present study were unaware of the intended effect.

<table><tbody><tr><td>E-Prime</td><td>PST</td><td></td><td>Stimulus Delivery Software</td></tr><tr><td>Statistica</td><td>Statsoft</td><td></td><td>Statistical Software</td></tr></tbody></table>

errors as a means of reducing impulsive food choice

Nowadays, the increasing incidence of eating disorders due to poor self-control has given rise to increased obesity and other chronic weight problems, and ultimately, to reduced life expectancy. The capacity to refrain from automatic responses is usually high in situations in which making errors is highly likely. The protocol described here aims at reducing imprudent preference in women during hypothetical intertemporal choices about appetitive food by associating it with errors. First, participants undergo an error task where two different edible stimuli are associated with two different error likelihoods (high and low). Second, they make intertemporal choices about the two edible stimuli, separately. As a result, this method decreases the discount rate for future amounts of the edible reward that cued higher error likelihood, selectively. This effect is under the influence of the self-reported hunger level. The present protocol demonstrates that errors, well known as motivationally salient events, can induce the recruitment of cognitive control, thus being ultimately useful in reducing impatient choices for edible commodities.

Representative results from the application of the protocol described above are reported here.
Error task
The validity of the Error task has been determined by the following results. Concerning the percentage of errors committed by participants, they showed a significantly higher number of errors in the HE than in the LE condition, a significantly higher number of erro...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice at JoVE.com

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Giving in to temptation of tasty food may result in long-term overweight problems. This protocol describes how to reduce imprudent preference for edible commodities during hypothetical intertemporal choices in women by associating them with errors.

Nowadays, the increasing incidence of eating disorders due to poor self-control has given rise to increased obesity and other chronic weight problems, and ...

errors-as-a-means-of-reducing-impulsive-food-choice

Research

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Behavior

8.5K Views.  Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen. Giving in to temptation of tasty food may result in long-term overweight problems. This protocol describes how to reduce imprudent preference for edible commodities during hypothetical intertemporal choices in women by associating them with errors.

Video: Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Fat Preference: A Novel Model of Eating Behavior in Rats

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States of America, with more than a third of the population classified as obese. One factor contributing to this multifactorial disorder is the consumption of a high fat diet, a behavior that has been shown to increase both caloric intake and body fat content. However, the elements regulating preference for high fat food over other foods remain understudied.
To overcome this deficit, a model to quickly and easily test changes in the preference for dietary fat was developed. The Fat Preference model presents rats with a series of choices between foods with differing fat content. Like humans, rats have a natural bias toward consuming high fat food, making the rat model ideal for translational studies. Changes in preference can be ascribed to the effect of either genetic differences or pharmacological interventions. This model allows for the exploration of determinates of fat preference and screening pharmacotherapeutic agents that influence acquisition of obesity.

Dietary fat content influences both energy intake and body fat composition in mammals. By examining rats&#8217; preference for high fat food in a series of choice experiments, it is possible to test genetic differences and pharmacological interventions on their preference for high fat food.

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States of America, with more than a third of the population classified as obese. One factor contributing to ...

A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity

Feeding difficulties and feeding disorders are a commonly occurring problem for young children, particularly children with developmental delays including autism. Behavior analytic interventions for the treatment of feeding difficulties oftentimes include escape extinction as a primary component of treatment. The use of escape extinction, while effective, may be problematic as it is also associated with the emergence of challenging behavior (e.g., extinction burst). Such challenging behavior may be an acceptable side effect in treatment cases where feeding problems are severe and chronic (e.g., failure to thrive). However, in more acute cases (e.g., selective eating), the negative side effect may be unwarranted and undesired. More recent research on the behavioral treatment of food selectivity has begun to evaluate treatments for feeding difficulties that do not include escape extinction (e.g., demand fading, behavioral momentum), with some success. However, research to date reveals individual differences in responsiveness to such treatments and no clear preferable treatment has emerged. This manuscript describes a multi-component treatment package that includes shaping, sequential presentation and simultaneous presentation, for the treatment of food selectivity in four young children with developmental delays. This treatment package extends the literature on the behavioral treatment for food selectivity and offers a multi-component treatment protocol that may be clinically applicable across a range of treatment scenarios and settings.

Feeding difficulties are a common problem for children with developmental disorders, including autism, and behavioral interventions often include escape extinction. Recent research has begun to evaluate treatments that do not include escape extinction. This manuscript describes a multicomponent treatment package that does not use escape extinction to treat feeding difficulties.

Feeding difficulties and feeding disorders are a commonly occurring problem for young children, particularly children with developmental delays including ...

Progressive-ratio Responding for Palatable High-fat and High-sugar Food in Mice

Foods that are rich in fat and sugar significantly contribute to over-eating and escalating rates of obesity. The consumption of palatable foods can produce a rewarding effect that strengthens action-outcome associations and reinforces future behavior directed at obtaining these foods. Increasing evidence that the rewarding effects of energy-dense foods play a profound role in overeating and the development of obesity has heightened interest in studying the genes, molecules and neural circuitry that modulate food reward1,2. The rewarding impact of different stimuli can be studied by measuring the willingness to work to obtain them, such as in operant conditioning tasks3. Operant models of food reward measure acquired and voluntary behavioral responses that are directed at obtaining food. A commonly used measure of reward strength is an operant procedure known as the progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement.4,5 In the PR task, the subject is required to make an increasing number of operant responses for each successive reward. The pioneering study of Hodos (1961) demonstrated that the number of responses made to obtain the last reward, termed the breakpoint, serves as an index of reward strength4. While operant procedures that measure changes in response rate alone cannot separate changes in reward strength from alterations in performance capacity, the breakpoint derived from the PR schedule is a well-validated measure of the rewarding effects of food. The PR task has been used extensively to assess the rewarding impact of drugs of abuse and food in rats (e.g.,6-8), but to a lesser extent in mice9. The increased use of genetically engineered mice and diet-induced obese mouse models has heightened demands for behavioral measures of food reward in mice. In the present article we detail the materials and procedures used to train mice to respond (lever-press) for a high-fat and high-sugar food pellets on a PR schedule of reinforcement. We show that breakpoint response thresholds increase following acute food deprivation and decrease with peripheral administration of the anorectic hormone leptin and thereby validate the use of this food-operant paradigm in mice.

The present report details the protocol employed to measure the rewarding effects of high-fat food in mice using a progressive ratio operant conditioning task.

Foods that are rich in fat and sugar significantly contribute to over-eating and escalating rates of obesity. The consumption of palatable foods can ...

Neuroscience

Control of Eating Behavior Using a Novel Feedback System

Subjects eat food from a plate that sits on a scale connected to a computer that records the weight loss of the plate during the meal and makes up a curve of food intake, meal duration and rate of eating modeled by a quadratic equation. The purpose of the method is to change eating behavior by providing visual feedback on the computer screen that the subject can adapt to because her/his own rate of eating appears on the screen during the meal. The data generated by the method is automatically analyzed and fitted to the quadratic equation using a custom made algorithm. The method has the advantage of recording eating behavior objectively and offers the possibility of changing eating behavior both in experiments and in clinical practice. A limitation may be that experimental subjects are affected by the method. The same limitation may be an advantage in clinical practice, as eating behavior is more easily stabilized by the method. A treatment that uses this method has normalized body weight and restored the health of several hundred patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders and has reduced the weight and improved the health of severely overweight patients.

Subjects eat food from a plate placed on a scale connected to a computer that records the weight loss of the plate during the meal. Feedback on the computer screen allows the subject to adapt her/his eating behavior to reference curves thus normalizing body weight.

Subjects eat food from a plate that sits on a scale connected to a computer that records the weight loss of the plate during the meal and makes up a curve ...

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

The present article provides a guide for the conduction and analysis of three conditioning-based protocols to evaluate impulsivity in rats. Impulsivity is a meaningful concept because it is associated with psychiatric conditions in humans and with maladaptive behavior in non-human animals. It is believed that impulsivity is composed of separate factors. There are laboratory protocols devised to assess each of these factors using standardized automated equipment. Delay discounting is associated with the incapacity to be motivated by delayed outcomes. This factor is evaluated through intertemporal choice protocols, which consist&#160;of presenting the individual with a choice situation involving an immediate reward and a larger but delayed reward. Response inhibition deficit is associated with the incapacity to withhold prepotent responses. Differential reinforcement of low rates (DLR) and feature-negative discrimination protocols assess the response inhibition deficit factor of impulsivity. The former imposes a condition to a motivated individual in which most wait a minimum period of time for a response to be rewarded. The latter evaluates the capacity of individuals to refrain from food seeking responses when a signal of the absence of food is presented. The purpose of these protocols is to construct an objective quantitative measure of impulsivity, which serves to make cross-species comparisons, allowing the possibility of translational research. The advantages of these particular protocols include their easy set-up and application, which stems from the relatively small amount of equipment needed and the automated nature of these protocols.

We present three protocols that assess different forms of impulsivity in rats and other small mammals. Intertemporal choice procedures evaluate the tendency to discount the value of delayed outcomes. Differential reinforcement of low rates and feature-negative discrimination evaluate response inhibition capacity with and without punishment for inappropriate responses, respectively.

The present article provides a guide for the conduction and analysis of three conditioning-based protocols to evaluate impulsivity in rats. Impulsivity is ...

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Our knowledge of human object vision is based almost exclusively on studies in which the stimuli are presented in the form of computerized two-dimensional (2-D) images. In everyday life, however, humans interact predominantly with real-world solid objects, not images. Currently, we know very little about whether images of objects trigger similar behavioral or neural processes as do real-world exemplars. Here, we present methods for bringing the real-world into the laboratory. We detail methods for presenting rich, ecologically-valid real-world stimuli under tightly-controlled viewing conditions. We describe how to match closely the visual appearance of real objects and their images, as well as novel apparatus and protocols that can be used to present real objects and computerized images on successively interleaved trials. We use a decision-making paradigm as a case example in which we compare willingness-to-pay (WTP) for real snack foods versus 2-D images of the same items. We show that WTP increases by 6.6% for food items displayed as real objects versus high-resolution 2-D colored&#160;images of the same foods -suggesting that real foods are perceived as being more valuable than their images. Although presenting real object stimuli under controlled conditions presents several practical challenges for the experimenter, this approach will fundamentally expand our understanding of the cognitive and neural processes that underlie naturalistic vision.

We describe methods for presenting real-world objects and matched images of the same objects under tightly-controlled experimental conditions. The methods are described in the context of a decision-making task, but the same real-world approach can be extended to other cognitive domains such as perception, attention, and memory.

Our knowledge of human object vision is based almost exclusively on studies in which the stimuli are presented in the form of computerized two-dimensional ...

Concept Development and Use of an Automated Food Intake and Eating Behavior Assessment Method

The vast majority of dietary and eating behavior assessment methods are based on self-reports. They are burdensome and also prone to measurement errors. Recent technological innovations allow for the development of more accurate and precise dietary and eating behavior assessment tools that require less effort for both the user and the researcher. Therefore, a new sensor-based device to assess food intake and eating behavior was developed. The device is a regular dining tray equipped with a video camera and three separate built-in weighing stations. The weighing stations measure the weight of the bowl, plate, and drinking cup continuously over the course of a meal. The video camera positioned to the face records eating behavior characteristics (chews, bites), which are analyzed using artificial intelligence (AI)-based automatic facial expression software. The tray weight and the video data are transported at real-time to a personal computer (PC) using a wireless receiver. The outcomes of interest, such as the amount eaten, eating rate and bite size, can be calculated by subtracting the data of these measures at the timepoints of interest. The information obtained by the current version of the tray can be used for research purposes, an upgraded version of the device would also facilitate the provision of more personalized advice on dietary intake and eating behavior. Contrary to the conventional dietary assessment methods, this dietary assessment device measures food intake directly within a meal and is not dependent on memory or the portion size estimation. Ultimately, this device is therefore suited for daily main meal food intake and eating behavior measures. In the future, this technology based dietary assessment method can be linked to health applications or smart watches to obtain a complete overview of exercise, energy intake, and eating behavior.

This protocol shows and explains a new technology-based dietary assessment method. The method consists of a dining tray with multiple built-in weighing scales and a video camera. The device is unique in the sense that it incorporates automated measures of food and drink intake and eating behavior over the course of a meal.

The vast majority of dietary and eating behavior assessment methods are based on self-reports. They are burdensome and also prone to measurement errors. ...

Investigating Binge Eating Disorder with a Palatable Food Access Mouse Model

Intermittent Binge-Intake Model in Mice

Obesity affects one in eight individuals globally. Overeating, especially high-calorie foods, plays a significant role in obesity. Binge eating disorder (BED) is a complex condition caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. It involves excessive consumption of high-calorie foods in a short period and is often linked to anxiety and cravings.
Here, we present a protocol employing continuous and intermittent access to a new highly palatable food (HPF) -- M&amp;M&#39;s -- to develop a mouse model for investigating binge eating disorder (BED). The HPF, chosen for its high fat and sugar content, represents an optimal food source to study due to its strong palatability, which makes it particularly suited for examining compulsive eating behaviors. Using C57BL/6 mice, we provided continuous or intermittent access to M&amp;M&#39;s while allowing unrestricted access to standard chow and water. By the 8th day, the mice in the intermittent access group exhibited pronounced binge-eating behaviors, which persisted through the 26th day. These mice also consumed significantly more calories -- predominantly from the confectionary -- than those in the continuous access and control groups. The contrast between continuous and intermittent access underscores the critical role of feeding schedules in promoting the overconsumption of palatable foods.
Furthermore, behavioral assessments revealed intermittent access to the HPF-induced anxiety-like behaviors, highlighting the psychological impact of access patterns on both eating behavior and emotional states. By incorporating these two distinct feeding paradigms, this study offers valuable insights into how the availability of highly palatable foods can exacerbate binge-eating tendencies. This model provides a more realistic approach to studying binge-eating behaviors and their metabolic consequences. It highlights the importance of standardized models in biomedical research. Our findings offer insights into the physiological and neural mechanisms underlying BED, which could pave the way for developing effective therapeutic interventions for BED and obesity.

Author Spotlight: Accessible M&amp;M-Based Mouse Model for Investigating Binge Eating Disorder - Insights into Eating Behaviors, Anxiety, and Neural Mechanisms

A binge-eating model was established in mice using intermittent access to M&amp;M's (a highly palatable food made of fat and sugar). Mice with intermittent access to this high-fat, high-sugar food showed stress-like behaviors, increased caloric intake, and a preference for that food over standard chow compared to mice with continuous or no access to the food.

Obesity affects one in eight individuals globally. Overeating, especially high-calorie foods, plays a significant role in obesity. Binge eating disorder ...

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers

Maladaptive reward memories (MRMs) can become unstable following retrieval under certain conditions, allowing their modification by subsequent new learning. However, robust (well-rehearsed) and chronologically old MRMs, such as those underlying substance use disorders, do not destabilize easily when retrieved. A key determinate of memory destabilization during retrieval is prediction error (PE). We describe a retrieval procedure for alcohol MRMs in hazardous drinkers that specifically aims to maximize the generation of PE and therefore the likelihood of MRM destabilization. The procedure requires explicitly generating the expectancy of alcohol consumption and then violating this expectancy (withholding alcohol) following the presentation of a brief set of prototypical alcohol cue images (retrieval + PE). Control procedures involve presenting the same cue images, but allow alcohol to be consumed, generating minimal PE (retrieval-no PE) or generate PE without retrieval of alcohol MRMs, by presenting orange juice cues (no retrieval + PE). Subsequently, we describe a multisensory disgust-based counterconditioning procedure to probe MRM destabilization by re-writing alcohol cue-reward associations prior to reconsolidation. This procedure pairs alcohol cues with images invoking pathogen disgust and an extremely bitter-tasting solution (denatonium benzoate), generating gustatory disgust. Following retrieval + PE, but not no retrieval + PE or retrieval-no PE, counterconditioning produces evidence of MRM rewriting as indexed by lasting reductions in alcohol cue valuation, attentional capture, and alcohol craving.

This manuscript describes a memory retrieval procedure for destabilizing robust reward memories and rewriting them with counterconditioning prior to their reconsolidation.

Maladaptive reward memories (MRMs) can become unstable following retrieval under certain conditions, allowing their modification by subsequent new ...

'Boden Food Plate': Novel Interactive Web-based Method for the Assessment of Dietary Intake

Different methods can be used in research to assess dietary intake, many of which are still paper-based. Written estimated food diaries are often utilized in clinical trials, despite being a burden for both study participants and researchers. This method requires participant literacy, it is time consuming, labor intensive, and can easily lead to under-reporting. With advancements in technology, there is a growing interest in electronic diaries that automate the dietary assessment process. These are focused on improving accuracy, reducing both time and cost and providing users with a visual and more enjoyable experience. The methodology presented here aimed to validate the &#39;Boden Food Plate&#39;, a novel web-based platform for self-recording of food and drink items, compared to a traditional estimated food diary. The application was also rated on a satisfaction scale by study participants using a paper-based questionnaire. Sixty-seven participants completed the dietary measures on both the three-day electronic and paper food diaries. For the analysis, only dietary data completed at both study time points (baseline and week six) was utilized. Despite small mean differences between dietary data collection methods, Bland Altman analysis showed fairly wide 95% limits of agreement between the electronic platform and the written estimated food diary and there were few cases which did not fall within the 95% confidence intervals. Overall, participants found the electronic food diary to be more fun than the paper method and as easy to use as hard copy diaries. The new platform has potential as a self-recording tool for the collection of dietary data, particularly when utilized in clinical trial settings. However, further validation studies are needed to improve the validity of this novel electronic dietary data collection tool.

The &#39;Boden Food Plate&#39; is an electronic food diary designed to be an interactive and fun method to collect dietary intake using visual depictions. The purpose of this study was to validate the web-based application against a traditional three-day estimated food diary method.

Different methods can be used in research to assess dietary intake, many of which are still paper-based. Written estimated food diaries are often utilized ...