Prenatal folate, homocysteine and vitamin B levels and child brain volumes, cognitive development and psychological functioning: the Generation R Study.

Previous studies have suggested that prenatal maternal folate deficiency is associated with reduced prenatal brain growth and psychological problems in offspring. However, little is known about the longer-term impact. The aims of this study were to investigate whether prenatal maternal folate insufficiency, high total homocysteine levels and low vitamin B12 levels are associated with altered brain morphology, cognitive and/or psychological problems in school-aged children.

Increased attention and memory for beloved-related information during infatuation: behavioral and electrophysiological data.

Emotionally salient information is well attended and remembered. It has been shown that infatuated individuals have increased attention for their beloved. It is unknown whether this attention bias generalizes to information related to the beloved.

The role of dopamine in inhibitory control in smokers and non-smokers: a pharmacological fMRI study.

Contemporary theoretical models of substance dependence posit that deficits in inhibitory control play an important role in substance dependence. The neural network underlying inhibitory control and its association with substance dependence have been widely investigated. However, the pharmacology of inhibitory control is still insufficiently clear.

Relation of emotional and behavioral problems with body mass index in preschool children: the Generation R study.

Objective: Although problem behavior in children and adolescents has frequently been associated with overweight, it is unclear whether this relationship is already present in early childhood. We hypothesized that problem behavior is positively related to body mass index (BMI) in children of preschool age and that eating behavior explains part of this relation.

Methods: The study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based cohort with data available on BMI and problem behavior for 3137 children aged 3 to 4 years.

Attentional Processing of Food Cues in Overweight and Obese Individuals.

The incentive sensitization model of obesity hypothesizes that obese individuals in the western world have acquired an enhanced attention bias to food cues, because of the overwhelming exposure to food. This article gives an overview of recent studies regarding attention to food and obesity. In general, an interesting approach-avoidance pattern in food-related attention has been found in overweight/obese individuals in a number of studies.

Electrophysiology of appetitive taste and appetitive taste conditioning in humans.

The present study examines two novel aspects of appetitive processing and conditioning: the electrophysiological response to (a) the appetitive taste of a sweet fluid and (b) appetitively/taste conditioned visual stimuli. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 32 subjects while they performed a taste conditioning task, in which two symbols were paired with a sweet or a neutral fluid. The results show a clear P1/N1/P2 complex, and a late positive potential (P3) with maxima at right fronto-central electrode sites, in response to the taste stimuli.

Food-related Stroop interference in obese and normal-weight individuals: behavioral and electrophysiological indices.

The primary objective of the present study was to investigate differences in the attentional processing of food-related words in a Stroop task, as assessed by means of behavioral (reaction times) and electrophysiological (P200 and P300 amplitudes) indices, between obese and normal-weight individuals. Results revealed a P200 bias to food-related words in obese participants, which was not seen in normal-weight participants. This indicates that, in an early, automatic stage of information processing, obese participants already tend to engage more attention towards food-related stimuli than to neutral stimuli.

Differences in attention to food and food intake between overweight/obese and normal-weight females under conditions of hunger and satiety.

Starting from an addiction model of obesity, the present study examined differences in attention for food-related stimuli and food intake between overweight/obese and normal-weight women under conditions of hunger and satiety. Twenty-six overweight/obese (BMI: 30.00+/-4.

Enhanced processing of food-related pictures in female external eaters.

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate differences in the processing of food-related pictures between women with high and low scores on a scale of external eating. Electro-encephalographic brain activity was recorded, while participants were actively exposed to pictures of food items and control pictures. The amplitude of the P300 component of the even-related potentials was used as an index of motivation-related information processing.

Food cue-elicited brain potentials in obese and healthy-weight individuals.

The main objective of this study was to investigate, by means of event-related potentials (ERPs), whether obese individuals process food-related information differently as compared to normal-weight individuals. Because amplitudes of late positive ERP components (P3, LPP) reflect motivational tendencies, obese participants were expected to display enlarged P3 and LPP amplitudes towards food pictures. Obese and normal-weight adults were exposed to pictures of food and control items, while EEG was recorded.

Alcohol selectively reduces brain activity during the affective processing of negative information.

Background: Although it has frequently been suggested that alcohol influences emotions such as anxiety and fear through the modulation of affective information processing, few studies addressed this topic using objective measures.

Objectives: The acute effects of alcohol on affective processing of pictorial stimuli were investigated using electrophysiological measures.

Methods: Event-related brain potentials (ERP) resulting from watching pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures were investigated in a group of participants receiving a beverage containing a moderate dose of alcohol (n=26) and a group of participants receiving a nonalcoholic placebo beverage (n=24).

The modified Trait and State Food-Cravings Questionnaires: development and validation of a general index of food craving.

In the present study, the multidimensional Trait and State Food Cravings Questionnaires (FCQ-T and FCQ-S), as developed by Cepeda-Benito, Gleaves, Williams, and Erath, [2000. The development and validation of the State and Trait Food Cravings Questionnaires. Behavior Therapy, 31, 151-173], were modified in order to construct an index of general food craving instead of specific food craving.

Effect of hedonic tone on event-related potential measures of cognitive processing.

Anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure, is a core feature of several psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and substance dependence. Furthermore, it has been suggested that anhedonia is an important predictor of schizophrenia. Anhedonia has been associated with information-processing deficits, especially attentional deficits, which may predispose for schizophrenia.

Effect of green tea on resting energy expenditure and substrate oxidation during weight loss in overweight females.

We assessed the effect of ingestion of green tea (GT) extract along with a low-energy diet (LED) on resting energy expenditure (REE), substrate oxidation and body weight as GT has been shown to increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation in the short term in both animals and people. Forty-six overweight women (BMI 27.6 (sd 1.