Food Reward in Native American Women

Neural Correlates of Food Reward in Native American Women

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01623440

Enrollment

Registered

2012-06-20

Start date

2009-11-30

Completion date

2015-07-31

Last updated

2019-07-12

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Obesity

Brief summary

This study aims to characterize the neurobiology of obesity in American Indians (AI) using functional MRIs to examine the correlation between brain response to food stimuli in AI women. A functional MRI (fMRI) is used to visualize brain activity when obese and lean AI women look at images of fattening food, non-fattening food and non-food objects. Additionally examined is the effect of the drug naltrexone to suppress brain response to visual food cues and calorie intake in the women.

Detailed description

The study looks at both obese and lean women. Each woman comes in for two visits. Each woman takes both the Naltrexone or placebo (one during each visit). Research staff and participants are blinded. Drugs are not used as treatment, but rather to provide information for possible future treatments. Hypotheses are: 1. Compared with their lean counterparts, obese women will demonstrate more fMRI activation in the brain in response to visual food cues. 2. Naltrexone will reduce the activation in reward-relevant brain sites in response to viewing photographs of fattening food as compared in placebo in both groups. 3. Naltrexone will suppress spontaneous intake of food in obese and lean AI women.

Interventions

COMBINATION_PRODUCTPlacebo and fMRI

Pill form, participant dosed one time an hour before fMRI.

COMBINATION_PRODUCTNaltrexone and fMRI

50 mg pill given one time, one hour before fMRI

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

FEMALE

Age

18 Years to 45 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Female * Self-identified AI * BMI over 30 OR between 20 and 24.9 * Must see clearly with or without glasses * Capable of giving informed consent

Exclusion criteria

* Smokes more than one cigarette a day * Drinks more than two alcoholic drinks a day * Uses recreational drugs * Is pregnant * Has had weight loss surgery * Other major medical problems (e.g. diabetes) * Taking medications that alter appetite or body weight * Significant food allergies

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
fMRI activation in the brain in response to visual food cue	With In 30days	fMRI activation in the brain in response to visual food cue

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026