Larger portions of food elicit greater intake than smaller portions of food, particularly when foods are high in energy density (kcal/g; ED). The neural mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. The present study used fMRI to assess brain activation to food (higher-ED, lower-ED) and non-food (office supplies) images presented in larger and smaller (i.e., age-appropriate) amounts in 61, 7-8-year-olds (29 male, 32 female) without obesity. Larger amounts of food increased activation in bilateral visual and right parahippocampal areas compared to smaller amounts; greater activation to food amount (larger > smaller) in this cluster was associated with smaller increases in food intake as portions increased. Activation to amount (larger > smaller) was stronger for food than office supplies in primary and secondary visual areas, but, for office supplies only, extended into bilateral parahippocampus, inferior parietal cortex, and additional visual areas (e.g., V7). Activation was greater for higher-vs. lower-ED food images in ventromedial prefrontal cortex for both larger and smaller amounts of food; however, this activation extended into left lateral orbital frontal cortex for smaller amounts only. Activation to food cues did not differ by familial risk for obesity. These results highlight potentially distinct neural pathways for encoding food energy content and quantity.

中文翻译：

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“份量大小”重要吗？大脑对食物和非食物线索的反应以不同的量呈现

较大份量的食物比较小份量的食物会产生更多的摄入量，特别是当食物的能量密度（千卡/克；ED）较高时。这种效应背后的神经机制仍不清楚。本研究使用功能磁共振成像来评估大脑对食物（高 ED、低 ED）和非食物（办公用品）图像的激活，这些图像在 61 岁、7-8 岁的时间内以较大和较小（即适合年龄）的量呈现- 不肥胖的老年人（29 名男性，32 名女性）。与少量食物相比，大量食物会增加双侧视觉和右侧海马旁区域的激活；在该簇中，对食物量的更大激活（更大>更小）与随着份量增加而食物摄入量的较小增加相关。在主要和次要视觉区域中，食物对数量（较大>较小）的激活比办公用品更强，但是，仅对于办公用品，扩展到双侧海马旁回、下顶叶皮层和其他视觉区域（例如，V7）。较高的激活程度比较低的激活程度更高。腹内侧前额叶皮层中较大和较小量食物的低 ED 食物图像；然而，这种激活仅少量延伸到左侧眶额皮质。对食物线索的激活并不因家族肥胖风险而不同。这些结果凸显了编码食物能量含量和数量的潜在不同神经通路。