# Relation of individual differences in fMRI-Assessed Satiation Signaling to Obesity Risk and Future Weight Gain

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $587,551

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Obesity affects 2.8 billion people worldwide and is the second leading cause of premature mortality.
Unfortunately, current treatments do not produce lasting weight loss, potentially because of an incomplete
understanding of the risk processes that promote obesity. After eating to fullness individuals with obesity
versus without obesity show weaker satiation signaling, as indexed by elevated responsivity of reward
valuation and gustatory regions in response to food cues and food tastes and stronger connectivity between
these brain regions. Behaviorally, obesity is associated with consumption of excess calories ab libitum when
sated, along with reduced perceived fullness and less perception of homeostatic signals during satiation.
Although research has established that obesity is correlated with weaker satiation signaling, no study has
determined whether weaker satiation signaling increases the risk for future overeating and weight gain or is a
consequence of overeating. Thus, we propose to conduct a rigorous prospective study designed to determine
the direction of influence between these two variables. We will recruit 132 healthy-weight adolescents (aged:
13-16; n=80 at high risk for obesity virtue of maternal obesity) for a multimodal, repeated-measures study
using a novel fMRI paradigm designed to capture neurobehavioral changes over the course of eating to
satiation. We will also include objective measures of body fat, food intake, gut hormones, and cognitive
measures. Aim 1: We will a) test the hypothesis that over the course of eating to satiation healthy-weight
adolescents at high-risk versus low-risk for obesity (virtue of maternal obesity) will show persistently elevated
brain response to energy-dense food tastes in the striatum, postcentral gyrus, and gustatory cortex. Aim 2: We
will a) test the hypothesis that participants who show weaker satiation signaling, as evidenced by persistently
elevated responsivity in the striatum, postcentral gyrus, and gustatory regions after eating to fullness will show
elevated future body fat gain over a 3-year follow-up, and b) test the ability of individual differences in a
satiated brain fingerprint to predict future body fat gain over a 3-year follow-up. Aim 3: Test the hypothesis that
the degree of percent body fat gain at 3-year follow-up will be related to a reduction in satiation signaling, as
indexed by a) higher responsivity in striatal, postcentral gyrus, and gustatory regions after eating to fullness
over the course of satiation, and b) increased engagement of these regions in a brain fingerprint when satiated.
If data provide support for Aims 1 and 2, but not Aim 3, results would suggest that weaker satiation signaling
increases risk for weight gain. In contrast, if data provide support for Aim 3, but not Aim 1 and 2, results would
suggest that weaker satiation signaling is a consequence of overeating. Finally, if data provide support for all 3
Aims, results would suggest that weaker...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10885087
- **Project number:** 5R01DK133407-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kyle S. Burger
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $587,551
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-15 → 2028-05-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10885087

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10885087, Relation of individual differences in fMRI-Assessed Satiation Signaling to Obesity Risk and Future Weight Gain (5R01DK133407-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10885087. Licensed CC0.

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