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Food-related inhibitory control, the ability to withhold a dominant response towards highly palatable foods, influences dietary decisions. Food-related inhibitory control abilities may increase following a bout of aerobic exercise; however, the impact of exercise intensity on both food-related inhibitory control and broader cognitive control processes is currently unclear. We used a high-powered, within-subjects, crossover design to test how relative intensity of aerobic exercise influenced behavioral (response time, accuracy) and neural (N2 and P3 components of the scalp-recorded event-related potential [ERP]) measures of food-related inhibitory and cognitive control. Two hundred and ten participants completed three separate conditions separated by approximately one week in randomized order: two exercise conditions (35% VO 2max or 70% VO 2max ) and seated rest. Directly following exercise or rest, participants completed a food-based go/no-go task and a flanker task while electroencephalogram data were recorded. Linear mixed models showed generally faster response times (RT) and improved accuracy following 70% VO 2max exercise compared to rest, but not 35% VO 2max ; RTs and accuracy did not differ between 35% VO 2max exercise and rest conditions. N2 and P3 amplitudes were larger following 70% VO 2max exercise for the food-based go/no-go task compared to rest and 35% VO 2max exercise. There were no differences between exercise conditions for N2 amplitude during the flanker task; however, P3 amplitude was more positive following 70% VO 2max compared to rest, but not 35% VO 2max exercise. Biological sex did not moderate exercise outcomes. Results suggest improved and more efficient food-related recruitment of later inhibitory control and cognitive control processes following 70% VO 2max exercise., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no disclosures or conflicts of interest to report in regards to this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Meta-analyses suggest inhibitory control training (ICT) may be effective for reducing food intake. However, psychological research has come under scrutiny for lack of reliability. Selective reporting (only reporting significant results) is one factor contributing to the lack of reliability in published research. Therefore, estimates of food-related ICT effects may be inaccurate. We conducted p -curve analyses to assess the presence of selective reporting, evidential value, average effect size, and power in the food-related ICT literature. Extracted p -values were selected from articles included in food-related ICT meta-analyses and an updated literature search. Four p -curve analyses resulted in 'U'-shaped distributions, suggesting evidence for both a true underlying effect and selective reporting in the food-related ICT literature. Robust analyses suggested the evidence for an underlying effect was primarily driven by the smallest p -value. The average effect size from included studies was small ( d  = 0.04 to 0.25). Average power to detect this effect was also small (7% to 18%). Results suggest no clear support for or against a true effect for food-related ICT. Low average effect size and power across studies suggests estimated effects are likely inflated in published literature. Higher-powered, pre-registered, longitudinal food-related ICT studies are needed to test for the presence and magnitude of ICT effects.

Obesity and maintaining a healthy diet have important implications for physical and mental health. One factor that may influence diet and obesity is inhibitory control. We tested how N2 and P3 amplitude, event-related potential (ERP) components that reflect inhibitory control, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity in brain regions associated with inhibitory control differed toward high- and low-calorie food stimuli across BMI status. We also assessed the relationship between neural indices of food-related inhibitory control and laboratory and daily food intake. Fifty-four individuals (17 normal-weight; 18 overweight; 19 individuals with obesity) completed two food-based go/no-go tasks (one with high- and one with low-calorie foods as no-go stimuli), once during ERP data acquisition and once during fMRI data acquisition. After testing, participants were presented with an ad libitum weighed food buffet. Participants also recorded their food intake using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Recall (ASA24) system across four days. Individuals recruited more inhibitory control when withholding responses towards high-compared to low-calorie foods, although this effect was more consistent for N2 than P3 or fMRI assessments. BMI status did not influence food-related inhibitory control. A larger inhibitory response as measured by N2 amplitude was related to increased ASA24 food intake; P3 amplitude and fMRI region of interest activity did not predict ASA24 intake; neither method predicted food intake from the buffet. ERP and fMRI measurements show similar neural responses to food, although N2 amplitude may be somewhat more sensitive in detecting differences between food types and predicting self-reports of food intake., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Maintaining a healthy diet has important implications for physical and mental health. One factor that may influence diet and food consumption is inhibitory control-the ability to withhold a dominant response in order to correctly respond to environmental demands. We examined how N2 amplitude, an ERP that reflects inhibitory control processes, differed toward high- and low-calorie food stimuli and related to food intake. A total of 159 participants (81 female; M age = 23.5 years; SD = 7.6) completed two food-based go/no-go tasks (one with high-calorie and one with low-calorie food pictures as no-go stimuli) while N2 amplitude was recorded. Participants recorded food intake using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Recall system. Inhibiting responses toward high-calorie stimuli elicited a larger (i.e., more negative) no-go N2 amplitude; inhibiting responses toward low-calorie stimuli elicited a smaller no-go N2 amplitude. Participants were more accurate during the high-calorie than low-calorie task, but took longer to respond on go trials toward high-calorie rather than low-calorie stimuli. When controlling for age, gender, and BMI, larger high-calorie N2 difference amplitude predicted lower caloric intake (β = 0.17); low-calorie N2 difference amplitude was not related to caloric intake (β = -0.03). Exploratory analyses revealed larger high-calorie N2 difference amplitude predicted carbohydrate intake (β = 0.22), but not protein (β = 0.08) or fat (β = 0.11) intake. Results suggest that withholding responses from high-calorie foods requires increased recruitment of inhibitory control processes, which may be necessary to regulate food consumption, particularly for foods high in calories and carbohydrates., (© 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Objective: To examine associations between motivational impact of palatable foods and neural activity in brain regions involved in inhibitory control among adolescents., Methods: Thirty-four adolescents aged 14-20 years underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing images of high- and low-energy foods. Participants completed the Power of Food Scale (PFS). Whole-brain analyses of variance tested for neural activation differences and correlations between brain activation and PFS scores were tested., Results: We found an interaction between food type (high energy vs. low energy) and PFS scores in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right inferior parietal lobule. We also found that PFS scores correlated negatively with activation to high-energy foods in prefrontal cortical and parietal regions., Conclusions: These findings suggest that individuals with high motivation for high-energy foods also demonstrate lower neural activation in inhibition-related brain regions when viewing images of high-energy foods, indicating that they may have difficulty inhibiting consumption impulses., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com)