Project Details
Projekt
Inhibitory spillover and inhibitory control of eating behavior
Subject Area
Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
Term
from 2017 to 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 389656328
Although psychological and pharmacological interventions are associated with significant weight loss in overweight individuals, most individuals remain overweight after such interventions. One of the issues frequently addressed in this context is the omnipresence of highly palatable food. At the same time, not all individuals are equally susceptible to the high availability of tempting food and recent evidence suggests that eating-related inhibitory deficits are related to the maintenance of overweight.Recent research has also demonstrated that the execution of self-control in one domain may lead to a concurrent increase of inhibitory control in another domain. Of more clinical relevance, this subsequent increase in inhibitory control cannot be achieved exclusively by endogenous cues, but also exogenous reminders of inhibitory control.The aim of the present project is to test whether (1) ISE can occur in the domain of pathological eating behavior, (2) ISE are evident in measures of food-related response inhibition, and (3) ISE by exogenous cues facilitate weight reduction in overweight and obese individuals.These research questions will be addressed in different samples of weight in a series of experiments. We assume that (1) exertion of inhibitory control in a food-unrelated domain will decrease food intake in a taste test in overweight compared to normal weight individuals, (2) inhibitory control spills over to facets of response inhibition typically deficient in overweight/obese individuals, and (3) ISE conditioned to food stimuli will facilitate weight loss over a four-week period.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
