Food aromas are signals associated with both food's availability and pleasure. Previous research from this laboratory has shown that food aromas under fasting conditions evoke robust activation of medial prefrontal brain regions thought to reflect reward value (Bragulat et al., Obesity (Silver Spring), 18(8): 1566–1571, 2010). In the current study, 18 women (11 normal weight and 7 obese) underwent a 2-day imaging study (one after being fed and one while fasting). All were imaged on a 3T Siemens Trio-Tim scanner while sniffing two food (F; pasta and beef) odors, one non-food (NF; Douglas fir) odor, and an odorless control (CO). Prior to imaging, participants rated hunger and perceived odor qualities and completed the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) to assess "externality" (the extent to which eating is driven by external food cues). Across all participants, both food and non-food odors (compared to CO) elicited large blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses in olfactory and reward-related areas, including the medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, and bilateral piriform cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. However, food odors produced greater activation of medial prefrontal cortex, left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and inferior insula than non-food odors. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the (F > CO) BOLD response in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and “externality” sub-scale scores of the DEBQ, but only under the fed condition; no such correlation was present with the (NF > CO) response. This suggests that in those with high externality, ventromedial prefrontal cortex may inappropriately valuate external food cues in the absence of internal hunger.

中文翻译：

---

前室内前额叶皮层激活与食物香气和提示驱动饮食之间的相关性：一项功能磁共振成像研究。

食物的香气是与食物供应和愉悦感相关的信号。该实验室的先前研究表明，禁食条件下的食物香气会激发内侧前额叶大脑区域的强烈活化，这些区域被认为反映了奖励价值（Bragulat等人，Obesity（Silver Spring），18（8）：1566–1571，2010）。在目前的研究中，有18名妇女（11例正常体重和7例肥胖）接受了为期2天的影像学研究（喂奶后1名，禁食时1名）。所有这些都在3T Siemens Trio-Tim扫描仪上成像，同时嗅探两种食物（F; 面食和牛肉）气味，一种非食品（NF;花旗松）气味和无味对照（CO）。在进行成像之前，参与者对饥饿和感知到的气味质量进行了评估，并完成了《荷兰饮食行为问卷》（DEBQ）来评估“外部性”（外部食物提示驱动进食的程度）。在所有参与者中，食物气味和非食物气味（与CO相比）均在嗅觉和奖励相关区域（包括内侧前额叶和前扣带回皮层，双侧眶额皮层和双侧梨状体）引起大量的血氧水平依赖性（BOLD）反应。皮质，杏仁核和海马体。然而，与非食物气味相比，食物气味产生的内侧前额叶皮层，左侧眶额叶皮质和下颌岛的活化更大。而且，F  > CO）腹侧前额叶皮层的大胆反应和DEBQ的“外部性”子量表得分，但仅在进食条件下；与（NF> CO）响应之间没有这种相关性。这表明在那些外部性很高的人中，在没有内部饥饿的情况下，腹膜前额叶皮层可能会错误地评估外部食物的线索。