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Identifying Neural and Computational Underpinnings of Self-Control Costs in Obesity and Loss-of-Control Eating

Award Number: R01DK146063
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/04/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2031

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Identifying Neural and Computational Underpinnings of Self-Control Costs in Obesity and Loss-of-Control Eating - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Over a third of US adults have body mass indices (BMIs) in the “obesity” range, which are associated with significantly increased risks for medical and psychological comorbidities. There is a critical need to identify the decision-making mechanisms underlying eating behaviors that promote and exacerbate obesity. One such eating behavior is loss-of-control (LOC) eating, which is defined by a sense of being unable to stop eating or control what or how much one is eating. LOC eating predicts weight gain and independently increases the risk for a range of medical issues and psychosocial impairments, suggesting that it represents a behavioral phenotype of obesity with a particularly high burden of disease. To date, most studies have assumed that dysregulated food intake, and therefore, higher weight, is perpetuated by deficits in the ability to deploy self- control. However, recent theoretical and empirical work stemming from the cognitive and decision neuroscience literature suggests that failures to successfully deploy self-control depend more centrally on peoples’ estimates of how cognitively costly (i.e., difficult or effortful) the attempted use of control will be. This new framework views control deployment as the result of a decision that emerges from individuals weighing the perceived benefits vs. cognitive costs of exercising control. Here, we apply this novel framework to characterize how estimated self- control costs may promote LOC eating and obesity. Specifically, we will combine neuroimaging and computational modeling with a self-control decision-making task to test the overarching hypothesis that more dysregulated eating and higher BMIs are maintained by increases in the perceived cognitive cost associated with deploying control. During functional MRI, samples of adults with BMIs in the obese range who endorse LOC eating, adults with obesity but without comorbid LOC eating, and controls without obese BMIs or LOC eating will complete our validated task that measures self-control costs: how much individuals are willing to pay to restrict their access to tempting food rewards so they can avoid having to use self-control. We will compare groups on these self-control costs and on computational parameters describing how these costs change with increasing temptation intensity (Aim 1). We will also compare groups on these costs’ underlying neural substrates (Aim 2). Finally, we will test how individual differences in self-control costs and neural activation correlate with and predict changes in eating and weight over time (Aim 3). The research team includes experts in the cognitive neuroscience of dysregulated eating, self-control and value-based decision-making, computational modeling, and neuroimaging. The study is innovative because it measures a decision-making process that occurs before the ultimate successful or failed deployment of control over eating. By assessing how this process and its neural underpinnings vary by weight status and with the presence of LOC eating, and by testing self-control cost estimation as a potential prognostic biomarker for future eating and weight change over time, this project will reveal potential targets for new neuromodulatory and cognitive-behavioral interventions.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $861,091 )
2026	2026	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	550 1ST AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10016	NEW YORK	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	1	9/3/2026	NEW	$861,091
														Subtotal = $861,091

Grand Total All Awards = $861,091

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Identifying Neural and Computational Underpinnings of Self-Control Costs in Obesity and Loss-of-Control Eating

Award Number: R01DK146063

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/04/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2031

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