Brain's Response to Chocolate

Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Behavioral Assessment of the Brain Response to Bioactive Food Components Using Electroretinography (Brain's Response to Chocolate)

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03364413
• Other study ID #: GFHNRC217
• Status: Completed
• Start date: January 17, 2018
• Est. completion date: March 2, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to test how the brain responds when individuals eat enjoyable foods such as chocolate. Eating certain foods can make one want to keep eating even when feeling full, caused by dopamine in the brain. The researchers believe this dopamine response can be measured by looking at the individual's eye.

Description:

With obesity at an all-time high, understanding eating behavior beyond physical need is a priority. Food reinforcement is driven by central dopamine activity. However, objective measurement of brain dopamine-related behavioral events is hindered by the lack of non-invasive, accessible techniques that are amenable to testing in a "naturalistic" environment. The goal of this project is to develop a non-invasive, accessible methodology to measure dopaminergic responses to food in a natural setting. This research will use a novel, hand-held electroretinograph (ERG) that does not require eye dilation and uses a skin electrode to measure retinal dopamine activity. Previous work establishes that retinal dopamine activity can be used as a proxy for central dopamine function. The ability to assess both subjective behavioral variables and central dopaminergic responses simultaneously will provide an ideal approach for innovative studies of the control of eating behavior.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 20
• Est. completion date: March 2, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: March 2, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 50 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• body mass index 20-30 kg/m2
• free of any major illness or disease

Exclusion Criteria:

• food allergies
• participation in a weight loss diet or exercise program
• pregnancy
• lactation
• metabolic illness or disease (diabetes, renal failure, thyroid illness, hypertension)
• eye illness or disease (narrow angle glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal detachment, cataracts)
• psychiatric, neurological or eating disorders (schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, epilepsy, anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa)
• take prescription medications except for oral contraceptives or antihyperlipidemia agents

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Obesity
• Overweight

Intervention

Other:
• Chocolate
Participants will be asked to taste commercially available chocolate varying in sugar, fat and percent cocoa (milk, 70%, 85% and 90% cocoa).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center	Grand Forks	North Dakota

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center	Drexel University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (1)

Casperson SL, Lanza L, Albajri E, Nasser JA. Increasing Chocolate's Sugar Content Enhances Its Psychoactive Effects and Intake. Nutrients. 2019 Mar 12;11(3):596. doi: 10.3390/nu11030596. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Retinal dopamine response to oral stimuli	Electroretinograph beta wave amplitude will increase in response to increases in the amount of sugar in the chocolate	30 minutes
Primary	Psychoactive Effects Questionnaire in response to oral stimuli	The number of positive responses on the Psychoactive Effects Questionnaire will increase in response to increases in the sugar content of the chocolate	30 minutes
Secondary	Scores on the Binge Eating Scale will correlate with the retinal dopamine and Psychoactive Effect Questionnaire responses	Individual changes in the retinal dopamine response and the number of positive responses on the Psychoactive Effects Questionnaire will correlate with individual scores on the Binge Eating Scale	30 minutes