Affiliation:
1. Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center, University of California, Los Angeles
2. G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles
3. Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles
4. David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles
5. School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
6. Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
7. California Center for Population Research, University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract
ImportancePerceived social isolation is associated with negative health outcomes, including increased risk for altered eating behaviors, obesity, and psychological symptoms. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of these pathways are unknown.ObjectiveTo investigate the association of perceived social isolation with brain reactivity to food cues, altered eating behaviors, obesity, and mental health symptoms.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional, single-center study recruited healthy, premenopausal female participants from the Los Angeles, California, community from September 7, 2021, through February 27, 2023.ExposureParticipants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a food cue viewing task.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe main outcomes included brain reactivity to food cues, body composition, self-reported eating behaviors (food cravings, reward-based eating, food addiction, and maladaptive eating behaviors), and mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, positive and negative affect, and psychological resilience).ResultsThe study included 93 participants (mean [SD] age, 25.38 [7.07] years). Participants with higher perceived social isolation reported higher fat mass percentage, lower diet quality, increased maladaptive eating behaviors (cravings, reward-based eating, uncontrolled eating, and food addiction), and poor mental health (anxiety, depression, and psychological resilience). In whole-brain comparisons, the higher social isolation group showed altered brain reactivity to food cues in regions of the default mode, executive control, and visual attention networks. Isolation-related neural changes in response to sweet foods correlated with various altered eating behaviors and psychological symptoms. These altered brain responses mediated the connection between social isolation and maladaptive eating behaviors (β for indirect effect, 0.111; 95% CI, 0.013-0.210; P = .03), increased body fat composition (β, −0.141; 95% CI, −0.260 to −0.021; P = .02), and diminished positive affect (β, −0.089; 95% CI, −0.188 to 0.011; P = .09).Conclusions and RelevanceThese findings suggest that social isolation is associated with altered neural reactivity to food cues within specific brain regions responsible for processing internal appetite-related states and compromised executive control and attentional bias and motivation toward external food cues. These neural responses toward specific foods were associated with an increased risk for higher body fat composition, worsened maladaptive eating behaviors, and compromised mental health. These findings underscore the need for holistic mind-body–directed interventions that may mitigate the adverse health consequences of social isolation.
Publisher
American Medical Association (AMA)