Diet-induced Impulsivity
Research suggests that people with obesity are more impulsive. However, it is not clear whether obesity causes trait impulsivity, trait impulsivity causes obesity, or if some other factor causes both. We have been exploring how diet may affect this relationship between obesity and impulsive choice in a rodent model. Our lab has shown that unhealthy diets can cause impulsive behavior in rats (Figure 1) and this occurs prior to obesity development. This suggests that diet-induced impulsivity may be a potential gateway to diet-induced obesity. In addition, high-fat diets lead to a reduced willingness to work for a reward and poorer time discrimination. Our current research is exploring how diet affects impulsive choice behavior through an investigation of physiological measures, and we are translating this model to humans. We have developed an impulsive choice task for food that more closely resembles the procedures used in rodent. Altogether, these studies could help us to develop pharamacological or behavioral interventions to reduce impulsive behaviors that could then be used in obesity prevention and treatment programs.
Figure 1.
Related Publications
Steele, C. C., Pirkle, J. R. A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2017). Diet-induced impulsivity: Effects of a high-fat and a high-sugar diet on impulsive choice in rats. PLoS ONE, 12(6), e0180510.
Related Conference Presentations
Pirkle, J. R. A., Steele, C. C., Critcher, B. T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2018). The effect of disrupted insulin signaling on impulsive choice. Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, San Diego, CA.
Pirkle, J. R. A., Steele, C., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2018). The relationship between percent body fat and liking and wanting . Kansas Association for Behavior Analysis, Lawrence, KS.
Steele, C. C., Davis, I. R., Pirkle, J. R. A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2017). Diet-induced impulsivity: The relationship between obesity and impulsive choice . Pavlovian Society, Philadelphia, PA.
Steele, C. C., Pirkle, J. R. A., Davis, I. R., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2017). Diet-induced impulsivity: An investigation into bias and sensitivity to delay. Platform presentation at the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Denver, CO.
Pirkle, J. R. A., Steele, C. C., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2017). The effects of dietary exposure on hedonic (liking) responses in rats. Poster presentation at the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Denver, CO.
Hill, C. C., Pirkle, J. R. A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2016). The effect of diet exposure on impulsive choice in rats: delay and reward sensitivity. Poster presentation at the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
Hill, C. C., Pirkle, J. R. A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2016). The effect of diet on individual differences in impulsive choice. Poster presentation at the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln, NE.
Hill, C. C., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2015). Short- and long-term effects of dietary manipulations on impulsive choice behavior and motivation in rats. Poster Presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL.
Hill, C. C., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2015). Effects of dietary manipulations on body weight, locomotor activity, and impulsive choice in rats. Platform Presentation at the Fall Meeting of the Comparative Cognition Society, Chicago, IL.