# Craving's role in biasing subjective value computation in food addiction

> **NIH NIH F31** · RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $35,523

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Both healthy individuals and those with addictive disorders experience cravings, a strong urge for a particular
substance. Yet despite this and the recognized impact craving has on some individuals, such as those with food
addiction, leading to overconsumption of highly palatable, high-calorie/high-fat foods, little is known about the
neural mechanisms underlying craving and its impact on decision making. Past fMRI studies have identified
canonical value and emotion/interoceptive processing regions of the brain that are sensitive to craving. However,
these studies rely on cue-reactivity paradigms that do not examine subjective value computations, an essential
component of behavioral intent understood to dictate - and potentially bias - decision making under craving.
Work in my lab has shown craving scales subjective value (i.e., how much an individual feels an item is worth)
in a multiplicative manner along a similarity dimension. Meaning people disproportionately value a craved item
and those similar to it more than dissimilar items during craving. However, the precise neural mechanisms
supporting this biased increase in subjective value in food addiction remain unknown. To address this, I will
induce craving via a multisensory food activity and have subjects complete willingness-to-pay probes during
fMRI so I may track how individuals’ subjective value changes pre- and post-craving. Furthermore, I will use the
Yale Food Addiction Scale to select for normative (control) and addictive food consumption (food addiction)
subjects to compare how craving may differentially exert its effects in food addiction. In Aim 1, to test how craving
differentially exerts its effect in food addiction, I will examine how subjective value changes for craved and non-
craved foods pre- and post-craving induction with the hypothesis that the food addiction group will exhibit more
disproportionate increases in subjective value for both the craved snack and non-craved snacks compared to
controls who will display a more targeted effect. Furthermore, to determine what neural bases may be primed in
food addiction to produce these disproportionate increases in subjective value, in Aim 2 I will assess whether
patterns of neural activity (i.e., neural representations) for the value of the craved and non-craved snacks are
less distinct in food addiction compared to controls, serving to drive more generalized overconsumption. The
training and research outlined in this F31 application will enhance my predoctoral training by: (1) solidifying my
understanding of motivational and decision neuroscience (neuroeconomics) methods and theory and (2)
increasing my competency in craving and behavioral addictions. The activities planned are aimed at advancing
my theoretical understanding of how motivational states interact with decision making, neuroimaging skills, and
clinical knowledge, all of which will be essential to achieving Aims 1 and 2, results from which ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10997783
- **Project number:** 1F31DA061624-01
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Emma Schweitzer
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $35,523
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10997783

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10997783, Craving's role in biasing subjective value computation in food addiction (1F31DA061624-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10997783. Licensed CC0.

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