Physical activity appears to have a positive impact on how the brain regulates feeding behavior after caloric intake in people who are lean or obese, according to a study involving 40 individuals. Participants included lean (n=22) and obese (n=18) individuals who completed 3 to 5 physical activity recalls over 2 months. Investigators calculated average minutes/day of moderate to vigorous physical activity and sedentary behavior. They then administered MRIs as participants viewed food and nonfood images after glucose intake, looking at how active and sedentary behavior changed brain percent signal change in response to the images. Among the results:

• Greater physical activity was linked with decreased food cue reactivity after glucose across brain regions of interest after controlling for obesity and gender.
• Greater sedentary behavior was linked with increased food cue reactivity after glucose across brain regions of interest in unadjusted analyses.