Overweight/Obesity, Stress
Conditions
Keywords
Overweight, Obesity, Stress, Eating
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to learn more about how common lifestyle interventions, such as exercise, affect how our brains respond to performing thinking tasks and to viewing pictures of foods and various other objects. The investigators are also interested in how changes in hormones that might be different in men and women could affect how lifestyle interventions change these brain responses.
Detailed description
The purpose of this study is to learn more about how common lifestyle interventions, such as exercise, affect how our brains respond to performing thinking tasks and to viewing pictures of foods and various other objects. The investigators are also interested in how changes in hormones that might be different in men and women could affect how lifestyle interventions change these brain responses. This will help us to better understand how different lifestyle interventions affect the brain and how this might relate to various behaviors. Eligible participants will be asked to complete 2 study days before and again after a 12-week intervention period, during which they will either continue with usual activities or be asked to complete exercise sessions four times per week. They will be randomly assigned to one of these conditions (exercise or not) and will not be able to choose their group assignment.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALExercise
12 weeks of aerobic exercise, with 4 sessions per week.
Sponsors
VA Office of Research and Development
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
The investigator and outcomes assessors will not know the group assignment of participants.
Intervention model description
Participants will be asked to complete 2 study days before and again after a 12-week intervention period, during which they will either continue with usual activities or be asked to complete exercise sessions four times per week. They will be randomly assigned to one of these conditions (exercise or not) and will not be able to choose their group assignment.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Veteran * Body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater * Physically inactive * Able to attend study visits in person in Aurora, CO
Exclusion criteria
* Currently pregnant * History of bariatric surgery * Current eating disorder * Current treatment with appetite-altering medications (e.g., glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists) * Contraindication to MRI (weight \> 500 pounds (lbs); claustrophobia; metal or electronic devices in the body) * Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary disease, or diabetes * Unable to exercise due to cardiac, pulmonary, neurologic, or orthopedic reasons
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percent change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to visual food cues as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) | Baseline, 12 weeks | Percent change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response from baseline to after the 12-week intervention period while viewing visual food cues. The primary contrast of interest is the comparison of high-calorie food images to nonfood object images. |
| Change in serum cortisol response to counting task | Baseline, 12 weeks | Change from baseline to after the 12-week intervention period in serum cortisol levels (micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL)) throughout a counting task involving mental math (measured as area under the curve). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in heart rate response to counting task | Baseline, 12 weeks | Change from baseline to after the 12-week intervention period in heart rate (measured by photoplethysmograph; aggregated in 1 min intervals) throughout a counting task involving mental math (measured as area under the curve). |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTKristina T Legget, PhD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORKristina T. Legget, PhD
Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO
Outcome results
None listed