The Role of Impulsivity in Obesity as Measured by Inhibitory Control: A Systematic Review
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective: There is evidence that executive function (and specifically inhibitory control) is related to obesity and eating behaviour. The go-no go task, the Stop Signal Paradigm and the Stroop Task are examples of behavioural tasks to measure inhibitory control.
Methods: This paper systematically reviews the literature on inhibitory control and its role in obesity and eating behaviours. Studies involving animals, particular clinical population (addiction, eating or psychiatric disorder) and work not related to obesity or psychology were excluded. Only papers that examined the relationship between inhibitory control and one or more eating-related measurements (BMI, BMI change or laboratory food intake measures) were included. Twenty one studies met the selection criteria. Computerized tasks to measure inhibitory control were used in the studies analysed in this review.
Results: The studies that used the go-no go task reveal that age can moderate the relationship between impulsivity and body weight or reported no association. Studies using the Stop Signal Paradigm reveal that the results on the task are a predictor of weight loss in both adolescents and adults populations. Studies using the Stroop Task demonstrate a difference between obese and normal weight groups.
Conclusions: These results reveal the role of inhibitory control in obesity. However, a better understanding of the mechanisms behind this connection is needed. We also conclude that performance tasks that measure inhibitory control are able to differentiate between obese and non-obese groups, but it is recommended wider population range and larger samples in future studies.Article Details
How to Cite
KULENDRAN, Myutan et al.
The Role of Impulsivity in Obesity as Measured by Inhibitory Control: A Systematic Review.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 5, n. 8, aug. 2017.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/1168>. Date accessed: 15 nov. 2024.
Keywords
obesity; systematic review; impulsivity; inhibitory control
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
Allan JL. The intention-behaviour gap: It's all under control (executive control). European Health Psychologist 2008; 10: 62-64.
Allan JL, Johnston M, Campbell N. Unintentional eating. What determines goal-incongruent chocolate consumption? Appetite 2010; 54: 422-425.
Allan JL, Johnston M, Campbell N. Missed by an inch or a mile? Predicting the size of intention-behaviour gap from measures of executive control. Psychology & Health 2011; 26: 635-650.
Band GP, van Boxtel GJ. Inhibitory motor control in stop paradigms: review and reinterpretation of neural mechanisms. Acta psychologica 1999; 101: 179-211.
Barkley RA. Response inhibition in attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 1999; 5: 177-184.
Baumeister RF, Bratslavsky E, Muraven M, Tice DM. Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1998; 74: 1252-1265.
Caton SJ, Ball M, Ahern A, Hetherington MM. Dose-dependent effects of alcohol on appetite and food intake. Physiology & Behavior 2004; 81: 51-58.
Dalley JW, Everitt BJ, Robbins TW. Impulsivity, compulsivity, and top-down cognitive control. Neuron 2011; 69: 680-694.
Dansinger ML, Gleason JA, Griffith JL, Selker HP, Schaefer EJ. Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction: a randomized trial. Jama 2005; 293: 43-53.
Grodzinsky GM, Barkley RA. Predictive Power of Frontal Lobe Tests in the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The Clinical Neuropsychologist 1999, 13: 12-21.
Goldstein RZ, Volkow ND. Dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex in addiction: neuroimaging findings and clinical implications. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2011; 12: 652-669.
Guerrieri R, Nederkoorn C, Jansen A. How impulsiveness and variety influence food intake in a sample of healthy women. Appetite 2007; 48: 119-122.
Guerrieri R, Nederkoorn C, Schrooten M, Martijn C, Jansen A. Inducing impulsivity leads high and low restrained eaters into overeating, whereas current dieters stick to their diet. Appetite 2009; 53: 93-100.
Gunstad J, Robert H. Paul RH, Cohen RA, Tate DF, Spitznagel, MB, Gordon E. Elevated body mass index is associated with executive dysfunction in otherwise healthy adults. Comprehensive Psychiatry 2007; 48: 57 – 61.
Hall, PA. Executive control resources and frequency of fatty food consumption: findings from an age-stratified community sample. Health Psychology 2012; 31: 235-241.
Heatherton TF, Polivy J, Herman CP. Dietary restraint: Some current findings and speculations. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 1990; 4: 1939-1501.
Houben K. Overcoming the urge to splurge: influencing eating behavior by manipulating inhibitory control. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry 2011; 42: 384-388.
Jansen A, Nederkoorn C, van Baak L, Keirse C, Guerrieri R, Havermans R. High-restrained eaters only overeat when they are also impulsive. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2009; 47: 105-110.
Jasinska AJ, Yasuda M, Burant CF, Gregor N, Khatri S, Sweet M, Falk EB. Impulsivity and inhibitory control deficits are associated with unhealthy eating in young adults. Appetite 2012, 59: 738–747.
Loeber S, Grosshans M, Korucuoglu O, Vollmert C, Vollstädt-Klein S, Schneider S, Wiers RW, Mann K, Kiefer F. Impairment of inhibitory control in response to food-associated cues and attentional bias of obese participants and normal-weight controls. International Journal of Obesity 2012; 36: 1334-1339.
Logan GD. Executive control of thought and action. Acta psychologica 1985; 60: 193-210.
Logan GD, Cowan WB. On the ability to inhibit thought and action - A theory of an act of control. Psychological Review 1984; 91: 295–327.
Logan GD, Gordon RD. Executive control of visual attention in dual-task situations. Psychological Review 2001; 108: 393-434.
Miller EK & Cohen JD. An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience 2001; 24: 167-202.
Miyake A, Friedman NP, Emerson MJ, Witzki AH, Howerter A, Wager, TD. The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "Frontal Lobe" tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology 2000; 41: 49-100.
Moeller FG, Doughertya DM, Barratt ES, Oderinde V, Mathias CW, Harper RA, Swann AC. Increased impulsivity in cocaine dependent subjects independent of antisocial personality disorder and aggression. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2002; 68: 105-111.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013.
Nederkoorn C, Braet C, Van Eijs Y, Tanghe A, Jansen A. Why obese children cannot resist food: the role of impulsivity. Eating Behaviors 2006; 7: 315-322.
Nederkoorn C, Baltus M, Guerrieri R, Wiers RW. Heavy drinking is associated with deficient response inhibition in women but not in men. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 2009; 93: 331-336.
Nederkoorn C, Houben K, Hofmann W, Roefs A, Jansen A. Control yourself or just eat what you like? Weight gain over a year is predicted by an interactive effect of response inhibition and implicit preference for snack foods. Health Psychology 2010; 29: 389-393.
Nigg JT. On inhibition/disinhibition in developmental psychopathology: Views from cognitive and personality psychology and a working inhibition taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin 2000; 126: 220-246.
Pauli-Pott U, Albayrak O, Hebebrand J, Pott W. Association between inhibitory control capacity and body weight in overweight and obese children and adolescents: dependence on age and inhibitory control component. Child Neuropsychology 2010; 16: 592-603.
Payne BK, Cheng CM, Govorun O, Stewart BD. An Inkblot for attitudes: Affect misattribution as implicit measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2005; 89: 277-293.
Phelan S, Phipps MG, Abrams B, Darroch F, Schaffner A, Wing RR. Randomized trial of a behavioral intervention to prevent excessive gestational weight gain: The Fit for Delivery Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2011; 93: 772-779.
Robbins TW, Gillan CM, Smith DG, de Wit S, Ersche KD. Neurocognitive endophenoypes of impulsivity and compulsivity: towards dimensional psychiatry. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2012; 16: 81-91.
Streiner DL. Being inconsistent about consistency: When coefficient alpha does and doesn’t matter. Journal of Personality Assessment 2003; 80: 217-222.
Thande NK, Hurstak EE, Sciacca RE, Giardina EG. Management of obesity: a challenge for medical training and practice. Obesity 2009; 17: 107-113.
Verbeken S, Braet C, Claus L, Nederkoorn C, Oosterlaan J. Childhood obesity and impulsivity: an investigation with performance-based measures. Behaviour Change 2009; 26: 153-167.
Weller RE, Cook EW, Avsar KB, Cox JE. Obese women show greater delay discounting than healthy-weight women. Appetite 2008; 51: 563-569.
Winstanley CA, Eagle DM, Robbins TW. Behavioral models of impulsivity in relation to ADHD: Translation between clinical and preclinical studies. Clinical Psychology Review 2006; 26: 379-395.
Allan JL, Johnston M, Campbell N. Unintentional eating. What determines goal-incongruent chocolate consumption? Appetite 2010; 54: 422-425.
Allan JL, Johnston M, Campbell N. Missed by an inch or a mile? Predicting the size of intention-behaviour gap from measures of executive control. Psychology & Health 2011; 26: 635-650.
Band GP, van Boxtel GJ. Inhibitory motor control in stop paradigms: review and reinterpretation of neural mechanisms. Acta psychologica 1999; 101: 179-211.
Barkley RA. Response inhibition in attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 1999; 5: 177-184.
Baumeister RF, Bratslavsky E, Muraven M, Tice DM. Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1998; 74: 1252-1265.
Caton SJ, Ball M, Ahern A, Hetherington MM. Dose-dependent effects of alcohol on appetite and food intake. Physiology & Behavior 2004; 81: 51-58.
Dalley JW, Everitt BJ, Robbins TW. Impulsivity, compulsivity, and top-down cognitive control. Neuron 2011; 69: 680-694.
Dansinger ML, Gleason JA, Griffith JL, Selker HP, Schaefer EJ. Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction: a randomized trial. Jama 2005; 293: 43-53.
Grodzinsky GM, Barkley RA. Predictive Power of Frontal Lobe Tests in the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The Clinical Neuropsychologist 1999, 13: 12-21.
Goldstein RZ, Volkow ND. Dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex in addiction: neuroimaging findings and clinical implications. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2011; 12: 652-669.
Guerrieri R, Nederkoorn C, Jansen A. How impulsiveness and variety influence food intake in a sample of healthy women. Appetite 2007; 48: 119-122.
Guerrieri R, Nederkoorn C, Schrooten M, Martijn C, Jansen A. Inducing impulsivity leads high and low restrained eaters into overeating, whereas current dieters stick to their diet. Appetite 2009; 53: 93-100.
Gunstad J, Robert H. Paul RH, Cohen RA, Tate DF, Spitznagel, MB, Gordon E. Elevated body mass index is associated with executive dysfunction in otherwise healthy adults. Comprehensive Psychiatry 2007; 48: 57 – 61.
Hall, PA. Executive control resources and frequency of fatty food consumption: findings from an age-stratified community sample. Health Psychology 2012; 31: 235-241.
Heatherton TF, Polivy J, Herman CP. Dietary restraint: Some current findings and speculations. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 1990; 4: 1939-1501.
Houben K. Overcoming the urge to splurge: influencing eating behavior by manipulating inhibitory control. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry 2011; 42: 384-388.
Jansen A, Nederkoorn C, van Baak L, Keirse C, Guerrieri R, Havermans R. High-restrained eaters only overeat when they are also impulsive. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2009; 47: 105-110.
Jasinska AJ, Yasuda M, Burant CF, Gregor N, Khatri S, Sweet M, Falk EB. Impulsivity and inhibitory control deficits are associated with unhealthy eating in young adults. Appetite 2012, 59: 738–747.
Loeber S, Grosshans M, Korucuoglu O, Vollmert C, Vollstädt-Klein S, Schneider S, Wiers RW, Mann K, Kiefer F. Impairment of inhibitory control in response to food-associated cues and attentional bias of obese participants and normal-weight controls. International Journal of Obesity 2012; 36: 1334-1339.
Logan GD. Executive control of thought and action. Acta psychologica 1985; 60: 193-210.
Logan GD, Cowan WB. On the ability to inhibit thought and action - A theory of an act of control. Psychological Review 1984; 91: 295–327.
Logan GD, Gordon RD. Executive control of visual attention in dual-task situations. Psychological Review 2001; 108: 393-434.
Miller EK & Cohen JD. An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience 2001; 24: 167-202.
Miyake A, Friedman NP, Emerson MJ, Witzki AH, Howerter A, Wager, TD. The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "Frontal Lobe" tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology 2000; 41: 49-100.
Moeller FG, Doughertya DM, Barratt ES, Oderinde V, Mathias CW, Harper RA, Swann AC. Increased impulsivity in cocaine dependent subjects independent of antisocial personality disorder and aggression. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2002; 68: 105-111.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013.
Nederkoorn C, Braet C, Van Eijs Y, Tanghe A, Jansen A. Why obese children cannot resist food: the role of impulsivity. Eating Behaviors 2006; 7: 315-322.
Nederkoorn C, Baltus M, Guerrieri R, Wiers RW. Heavy drinking is associated with deficient response inhibition in women but not in men. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 2009; 93: 331-336.
Nederkoorn C, Houben K, Hofmann W, Roefs A, Jansen A. Control yourself or just eat what you like? Weight gain over a year is predicted by an interactive effect of response inhibition and implicit preference for snack foods. Health Psychology 2010; 29: 389-393.
Nigg JT. On inhibition/disinhibition in developmental psychopathology: Views from cognitive and personality psychology and a working inhibition taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin 2000; 126: 220-246.
Pauli-Pott U, Albayrak O, Hebebrand J, Pott W. Association between inhibitory control capacity and body weight in overweight and obese children and adolescents: dependence on age and inhibitory control component. Child Neuropsychology 2010; 16: 592-603.
Payne BK, Cheng CM, Govorun O, Stewart BD. An Inkblot for attitudes: Affect misattribution as implicit measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2005; 89: 277-293.
Phelan S, Phipps MG, Abrams B, Darroch F, Schaffner A, Wing RR. Randomized trial of a behavioral intervention to prevent excessive gestational weight gain: The Fit for Delivery Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2011; 93: 772-779.
Robbins TW, Gillan CM, Smith DG, de Wit S, Ersche KD. Neurocognitive endophenoypes of impulsivity and compulsivity: towards dimensional psychiatry. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2012; 16: 81-91.
Streiner DL. Being inconsistent about consistency: When coefficient alpha does and doesn’t matter. Journal of Personality Assessment 2003; 80: 217-222.
Thande NK, Hurstak EE, Sciacca RE, Giardina EG. Management of obesity: a challenge for medical training and practice. Obesity 2009; 17: 107-113.
Verbeken S, Braet C, Claus L, Nederkoorn C, Oosterlaan J. Childhood obesity and impulsivity: an investigation with performance-based measures. Behaviour Change 2009; 26: 153-167.
Weller RE, Cook EW, Avsar KB, Cox JE. Obese women show greater delay discounting than healthy-weight women. Appetite 2008; 51: 563-569.
Winstanley CA, Eagle DM, Robbins TW. Behavioral models of impulsivity in relation to ADHD: Translation between clinical and preclinical studies. Clinical Psychology Review 2006; 26: 379-395.