Article
Neurosciences
Clement Solie, Benoit Girard, Beatrice Righetti, Malika Tapparel, Camilla Bellone
Summary: In this study, the researchers demonstrated that VTA DA neurons show heterogeneous responses during interactions with unfamiliar conspecifics. The activity of DA neurons encodes social prediction error and drives social reinforcement learning.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Muthmainah Muthmainah, Andrea Gogos, Priya Sumithran, Robyn M. Brown
Summary: Orexins play a crucial role in regulating eating behavior beyond homeostatic feeding, including reward and motivation. Studies have shown the involvement of orexins in hedonic and appetitive behavior towards palatable food. There is a bias towards studies involving male subjects in the literature, highlighting the need for future research to include female subjects.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Fei-Yang Huang, Fabian Grabenhorst
Summary: Reinforcement learning models fail to explain how reward values are constructed from biologically critical intrinsic reward components. This study found that animals' preferences for specific nutrients influenced their ability to adapt to varying reward probabilities and the influence of recent rewards on choices, especially if these rewards contained their preferred nutrients.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rajat S. Shivacharan, Camarin E. Rolle, Daniel A. N. Barbosa, Tricia N. Cunningham, Austin Feng, Noriah D. Johnson, Debra L. Safer, Cara Bohon, Corey Keller, Vivek P. Buch, Jonathon J. Parker, Dan E. Azagury, Peter A. Tass, Mahendra T. Bhati, Robert C. Malenka, James D. Lock, Casey H. Halpern
Summary: In this pilot study, responsive deep brain stimulation (DBS) was used to improve self-control of food intake and weight loss in two patients with binge eating disorder (BED) and severe obesity. Increased low-frequency oscillations in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), recorded during food cravings preceding loss of control (LOC) eating, were used to guide the delivery of DBS. Over 6 months, improved self-control of food intake and weight loss were observed. Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to determine the scalability of this approach.
Article
Neurosciences
Edmund T. Rolls
Summary: The orbitofrontal cortex is crucial in representing the reward value and subjective pleasantness of food in primates, including humans. In rodents, reward systems operate differently with reward value reflected earlier in processing systems. Social and cognitive factors influence the reward value of food represented in the orbitofrontal cortex. Functional connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex is correlated with liking for food and body mass index.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Erika Guyot, Anestis Dougkas, Julie-Anne Nazare, Sarah Bagot, Emmanuel Disse, Sylvain Iceta
Summary: This systematic review and meta-analyses found that following bariatric surgery, there were changes in food preferences in terms of macronutrient intake, food selection, and overall food appreciation. Specifically, there was an increase in protein energy percentage and a decrease in fat energy percentage in the postoperative period.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Hanne Pedersen, Kristine Beaulieu, Graham Finlayson, Kristine Faerch, Marit Eika Jorgensen, Jack Ivor Lewis, Mads Vendelbo Lind, Lotte Lauritzen, Jonas Salling Quist
Summary: The food availability and dietary behaviors in Greenland have changed with Westernization. This study aimed to explore the differences in food reward between a traditional Inuit diet and a Westernized diet in Inuit populations. The results showed that both groups had lower implicit wanting for sweet and high-fat foods, but the traditional Inuit diet group had higher implicit wanting for high-fat sweet foods.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Iulia Banica, Grace Allison, Sarah E. Racine, Dan Foti, Anna Weinberg
Summary: Reward processing is crucial for learning and survival, and the Reward Positivity (RewP) can reflect this process. This study examined how internal and external factors modulate neural responses to rewards and whether these responses motivate reward-seeking behavior. The results showed that hunger level and snack liking influenced the magnitude of RewP, and the size of RewP was associated with motivated behavior.
Article
Psychology, Biological
D. Thivel, P. Oustric, K. Beaulieu, H. Moore, L. Bonjean, J. Loglisci, M. Georges, M. Miyashita, Y. Boirie, B. Pereira, G. Finlayson
Summary: This study developed and validated a culturally adapted French version of the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ-fr) for evaluating food reward in the French population. The LFPQ-fr was found to be a reproducible and reliable method for assessing food reward in both fasted and fed states in healthy-weight individuals.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Sonja Yokum, Cara Bohon, Elliot Berkman, Eric Stice
Summary: The study aimed to evaluate the test-retest reliability of responses in reward-related brain regions to food receipt paradigms, food picture paradigms, a monetary reward paradigm, and a thin female model picture paradigm. Results showed poor test-retest reliability of the mentioned paradigms, highlighting the need for well-validated standardized fMRI tasks for more reliable measures of neural activation in eating- and obesity-related studies.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Shiran Oren, Marc Tittgemeyer, Lionel Rigoux, Marc Schlamann, Tom Schonberg, Bojana Kuzmanovic
Summary: Different types of rewards, such as food and money, can drive behavior by activating shared brain processes that encode their subjective value. This study examines the unique and common neural responses to the consumption and evaluation of food and monetary rewards. The findings suggest that taste and sensory processing play a critical role in the processing of food rewards, highlighting the need to consider metabolic states and time-dependent dynamics in reward-related processing.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Nikoline Bach Hyldelund, Derek Victor Byrne, Barbara Vad Andersen
Summary: This study investigates the differences in food pleasure drivers among Danish consumers and examines how these differences are related to specific sociodemographic, lifestyle, health, and eating behavior personality traits. The results reveal that different consumer segments have distinct characteristics in terms of food pleasure. Additionally, the study uncovers the link between mental health, personality, eating behavior, and perceived food pleasure.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Nikoline Bach Hyldelund, Vita Ligaya Dalgaard, Derek Victor Byrne, Barbara Vad Andersen
Summary: This study found that acute psychosocial stress can increase cravings for highly palatable foods for some individuals, while others may experience a loss of appetite. This is important for understanding why people undergo changes in eating behavior when experiencing stress.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Nikoline Bach Hyldelund, Derek Victor Byrne, Raymond C. K. Chan, Barbara Vad Andersen
Summary: This research study explored the relationship between anhedonia, mental disorders, and pleasure from food. The findings showed that individuals with different levels of anhedonia have different perceptions of food pleasure.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Lisa Yang, Lysia Demetriou, Matthew B. Wall, Edouard G. Mills, Victoria C. Wing, Layla Thurston, Caroline N. Schaufelberger, Bryn M. Owen, Ali Abbara, Eugenii A. Rabiner, Alexander N. Comninos, Waljit S. Dhillo
Summary: This study found that injection of the reproductive hormone kisspeptin did not significantly impact the brain responses to visual food stimuli or psychometric parameters of appetite in healthy men.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM
(2021)
Review
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Leandro Valiengo, Ana Maia, Goncalo Cotovio, Pedro C. Gordon, Andre R. Brunoni, Orestes Forlenza, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: The study findings suggest that rTMS is an effective and safe treatment for major depressive disorder in older adults. Active rTMS was found to be superior to sham treatment in reducing symptom severity, increasing response rates, and achieving remission. Additionally, older age and a greater number of treatment sessions were associated with greater improvement in symptom severity.
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES A-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Goncalo Cotovio, Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Estela Real Lage, Carolina Seybert, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: Mood disorders are associated with lateralized brain dysfunction, with depression predominantly on the left side and mania predominantly on the right side. This study reviewed and summarized the asymmetry of motor cortical excitability measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in mood disorders. The study found interhemispheric asymmetry of motor cortical excitability, with lower left-hemisphere excitability in major depressive disorder and lower right hemisphere excitability in bipolar depression.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
E. C. Karademas, I Roziner, K. Mazzocco, R. Pat-Horenczyk, B. Sousa, A. J. Oliveira-Maia, G. Stamatakos, F. Cardoso, D. Frasquilho, E. Kolokotroni, R. Lemos, C. Marzorati, J. Mattson, G. Pettini, E. Spyropoulou, P. Poikonen-Saksela, P. Simos
Summary: This study examined the longitudinal impact of self-efficacy on coping with cancer and cancer-related coping reactions among breast cancer patients. The findings suggest that self-efficacy predicts coping reactions, and coping reactions also predict changes in self-efficacy. This relationship is complex and requires new theoretical models for a more accurate description.
PSYCHOLOGY & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
E. C. Karademas, P. Simos, R. Pat-Horenczyk, I Roziner, K. Mazzocco, B. Sousa, G. Stamatakos, G. Tsakou, F. Cardoso, D. Frasquilho, E. Kolokotroni, C. Marzorati, J. Mattson, A. J. Oliveira-Maia, K. Perakis, G. Pettini, L. Vehmanen, P. Poikonen-Saksela
Summary: This study examined the role of self-efficacy in coping with breast cancer as a mediator and/or moderator in the relationship between trait resilience and quality of life and psychological symptoms. The results showed that coping self-efficacy mediated the impact of trait resilience, and higher levels of resilience combined with higher levels of coping self-efficacy were associated with better outcomes.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY IN MEDICAL SETTINGS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Applied
Ilan Roziner, Shlomit Perry, Rawan Dahabre, Gabriella Bentley, Lauren Kelada, Paula Poikonen-Saksela, Ketti Mazzocco, Berta Sousa, Evangelos C. Karademas, Panagiotis Simos, Gretta Pettini, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Johanna Mattson, Ruth Pat-Horenczyk
Summary: Psychological and physical health among women with breast cancer are linked and the association is relatively stable throughout different treatment phases. Somatic symptoms have an impact on psychological symptoms, and vice versa. No cross-cultural differences were found in the mutual effects of psychological and somatic symptoms.
Article
Oncology
Leena Vehmanen, Johanna Mattson, Evangelos Karademas, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Berta Sousa, Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, Ketti Mazzocco, Panagiotis Simos, Fatima Cardoso, Greta Pettini, Chiara Marzorati, Eleni Kolokotroni, Georgios Stamatakos, Diana Frasquilho, Paula Poikonen-Saksela
Summary: Exercise habits are associated with the well-being of breast cancer patients. Achieving exercise recommendations is linked to improved quality of life, reduced depression and anxiety, and fewer adverse effects of adjuvant therapy.
Review
Psychiatry
Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Ana Maia, Goncalo Cotovio, Jose Oliveira, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, J. Bernardo Barahona-Correa
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies to compare motor cortical excitability measures in patients with OCD and control volunteers. It suggests an inhibitory deficit of motor cortex excitability in patients with OCD, particularly in the cortical silent period linked to GABAB receptor activity. However, there is no evidence of changes in resting motor threshold after treatment with repetitive TMS.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Gabriela Ribeiro, Sandra Torres, Ana B. Fernandes, Marta Camacho, Teresa L. Branco, Sandra S. Martins, Armando Raimundo, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: The study found that individuals with obesity reported higher sweet taste intensity ratings compared to healthy controls. Additionally, while psychological measures of reward-related feeding behavior assessed a common construct, sweet intensity perception may represent a different dimension related to obesity.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Silvia Almeida, Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Diana Frasquilho, Beatriz Costa, Berta Sousa, Telmo Mourinho Baptista, Jaime Gracio, Raquel Lemos, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: This study aimed to validate the Portuguese version of a short form of the Family Resilience Questionnaire (FaRE-SF-P) in a sample of women with breast cancer. The results showed that the FaRE-SF-P demonstrated good psychometric properties and can serve as a screening tool in oncological clinical practice.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Georgios C. Manikis, Nicholas J. Simos, Konstantina Kourou, Haridimos Kondylakis, Paula Poikonen-Saksela, Ketti Mazzocco, Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, Berta Sousa, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Johanna Mattson, Ilan Roziner, Chiara Marzorati, Kostas Marias, Mikko Nuutinen, Evangelos Karademas, Dimitrios Fotiadis
Summary: This study developed machine learning models to identify breast cancer survivors at risk of poor overall mental health and quality of life and identify potential targets of personalized psychological interventions. The models achieved high accuracy in predicting well-being outcomes, providing a reliable risk assessment tool for clinicians.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, Lauren Kelada, Eleni Kolokotroni, Georgios Stamatakos, Rawan Dahabre, Gabriella Bentley, Shlomit Perry, Evangelos C. Karademas, Panagiotis Simos, Paula Poikonen-Saksela, Ketti Mazzocco, Berta Sousa, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Ilan Roziner
Summary: The study aimed to examine the quality of life among women coping with breast cancer during the first year after diagnosis. 699 women from four different countries were followed as part of the BOUNCE Project to understand the factors that may influence their well-being. Results showed that most women had improved quality of life during the first year, but approximately one-third of women experienced consistently low quality of life and need early interventions.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Silvia Almeida, Marta Camacho, J. Bernardo Barahona-Correa, Jose Oliveira, Raquel Lemos, Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Joaquim Alves da Silva, Telmo Mourinho Baptista, Jaime Gracio, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: This study assessed the validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in patients with cancer and found that the BDI-II demonstrated good psychometric properties in this population, with excluding somatic items not affecting screening accuracy.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Carolina Seybert, Goncalo Cotovio, Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Francisco Faro Viana, Patricia Pereira, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: This study aimed to test the temporal stability of cortical-excitability modulation and study the impact of individual and methodological factors in determining within-and between-subject variability. The results found modulatory effects on the left motor cortex immediately after intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), but not on the right hemisphere. Delta-MEPs were stable immediately after iTBS and were not impacted by different individual factors. The findings suggest that motor cortex excitability modulation may be further explored as a potential biomarker for neuropsychiatric diseases.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Goncalo Cotovio, Fabiana Ventura, Daniel Rodrigues da Silva, Patricia Pereira, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
Summary: Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), have been widely used and proven safe and effective for various neuropsychiatric disorders, including treatment-resistant depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. Multiple clinical studies and meta-analyses have provided evidence-based guidelines and recommendations for the therapeutic use of TMS. Furthermore, ongoing research suggests the potential future use of TMS for other psychiatric syndromes.
Article
Psychiatry
Joao M. Bessa, Serafim Carvalho, Ines B. Cunha, Milene Fernandes, Ana Matos-Pires, Rui Neves, Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Susana Santos, Vitor Santos
Summary: Guidance on TRD treatment in Portugal is limited, despite a high prevalence of depression. This study used a survey and expert advisory boards to discuss and characterize MDD and TRD in terms of epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment options, and clinical needs. Consensus was reached on key issues, including the definition of TRD and the importance of personalized treatment. The study found that TRD diagnosis and treatment are mostly determined by psychiatrists at public hospitals, and that pharmacotherapy alone is often insufficient, with psychotherapy and brain stimulation techniques underutilized. Limited access to specialist care and treatment options further restrict TRD management in Portugal.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)