Effect of obesity on inhibitory control in preadolescents during stop-signal task. An event-related potentials study

• Main Authors: Alatorre-Cruz, G.C (Author), Downs, H. (Author), Hagood, D. (Author), Larson-Prior, L. (Author), Sorensen, S.T (Author), Williams, D.K (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 2021
• Subjects: Article; attention; Attention process; behavior; behavior rating inventory of executive function; body mass; body weight; brain electrophysiology; child; Child; childhood obesity; comparative study; controlled study; Delis-Kaplan executive function system; electroencephalogram; electroencephalography; event related potential; Evoked Potentials; evoked response; executive function; Executive Function; eye movement; eyelid reflex; female; glycemic index; human; Humans; Inhibition, Psychological; latent period; learning; major clinical study; male; N200; neuromodulation; Obese preadolescents; obesity; Obesity; P300a; P300b; psychometry; reaction time; Reaction Time; reactive inhibition; Reactive inhibition; recognition; stop signal reaction time; verbal memory; visual memory; visual stimulation; Wide Range Achievement Test; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; working memory
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Preadolescence is a period in which structural and functional changes occur in brain network reorganization that relate to the development of executive control functions, particularly in the areas of attention and cognitive inhibition. Obesity has been associated with a deficit in executive functions and behavioral and electrophysiological differences using the go/no-go task (proactive inhibition), but no study has assessed brain-electrical activity using the stop-signal task (reactive inhibition) in this population. Therefore, we hypothesized that obese preadolescents would show less efficiency in reactive inhibition than their same-age non-obese peers. To test this hypothesis, event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected during a stop-signal task and compared between 27 obese preadolescents (mean BMI = 25.9; 9.65 years old) and 29 normal-weight preadolescents (mean BMI = 17.5; 9.60 years old). No significant differences between groups were observed in behavioral responses. As for ERPs, the obese group had an electrophysiological pattern associated with less efficient conflict monitoring during the “no-go” condition (i.e., less modulation of N200 latency based on the experimental condition), differences in attentional allocation in the “go” condition (less modulation of P300a latency based on experimental condition), and difficulties in rule retrieval from working memory associated with the trial-type in both experimental conditions (smaller P300b amplitude). We conclude that obese preadolescents displayed less ability to modulate conflict-monitoring in the “no-go” condition and attention allocation in the “go” condition, evidencing differences between groups in the development of attention and inhibitory control. © 2021