LAUSR

STUDY OBJECTIVES Poor sleep in adolescents can increase the risk of obesity, possibly due to changes in dietary patterns. Prior neuroimaging evidence, mostly in adults, suggests that lacking sleep results in increased response to food cues in reward processing brain regions. Needed is clarification of the mechanisms by which food reward processing is altered by the kind of chronic sleep restriction typically experienced by adolescents. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of sleep duration on response to visual food stimuli in healthy adolescents using functional neuroimaging, hypothesizing increased reward processing response after sleep restriction compared to a well-rested condition. METHODS Thirty-nine healthy adolescents, 14-17 years old, completed a 3-week protocol: 1) sleep phase stabilization; 2) sleep restriction (~6.5 hours nightly); and 3) healthy sleep duration (~9 hours nightly). Participants underwent functional MRI while performing a visual food paradigm. Contrasts of food vs. nonfood response were compared within-subject between conditions of sleep restriction and healthy sleep. RESULTS Under sleep restriction, there was greater response to food stimuli compared to healthy sleep in a voxel cluster including the left ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra. No change in food appeal rating due to the sleep manipulation was detected. CONCLUSIONS Outcomes of this study suggest that sleep restriction, as commonly experienced by healthy adolescents, results in elevated dopaminergic drive of the reward network that may augment motivation to seek food in the context of individual food appeal and inhibitory profiles. Countermeasures that reduce food salience could include promoting consistent healthy sleep habits.