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Introduction: Sensory factors may play an important role in the determination of appetite and food choices. Also, some adipokines may alter or predict the perception and pleasantness of specific odors. We aimed to analyze differences in smell–taste capacity between females with different weights and relate them with fat and fat-free mass, visceral fat, and several adipokines. Materials and methods: 179 females with different weights (from low weight to morbid obesity) were studied. We analyzed the relation between fat, fat-free mass, visceral fat (indirectly estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis with visceral fat rating (VFR)), leptin, adiponectin and visfatin. The smell and taste assessments were performed through the "Sniffin’ Sticks" and "Taste Strips" respectively. Results: We found a lower score in the measurement of smell (TDI-score (Threshold, Discrimination and Identification)) in obese subjects. All the olfactory functions measured, such as threshold, discrimination, identification and the TDI-score, correlated negatively with age, body mass index (BMI), leptin, fat mass, fat-free mass and VFR. In a multiple linear regression model, VFR mainly predicted the TDI-score. With regard to the taste function measurements, the normal weight subjects showed a higher score of taste functions. However a tendency to decrease was observed in the groups with greater or lesser BMI. In a multiple linear regression model VFR and age mainly predicted the total taste scores. Discussion: We show for the first time that a reverse relationship exists between visceral fat and sensory signals, such as smell and taste, across a population with different body weight conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Addictions are associated with decision making impairments. The present study explores decision making in Substance use disorder (SUD), Gambling disorder (GD) and Obesity (OB) when assessed by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and compares them with healthy controls (HC). Methods: For the aims of this study, 591 participants (194 HC, 178 GD, 113 OB, 106 SUD) were assessed according to DSM criteria, completed a sociodemographic interview and conducted the IGT. Results: SUD, GD and OB present impaired decision making when compared to the HC in the overall task and task learning, however no differences are found for the overall performance in the IGT among the clinical groups. Results also reveal some specific learning across the task patterns within the clinical groups: OB maintains negative scores until the third set where learning starts but with a less extend to HC, SUD presents an early learning followed by a progressive although slow improvement and GD presents more random choices with no learning. Conclusions: Decision making impairments are present in the studied clinical samples and they display individual differences in the task learning. Results can help understanding the underlying mechanisms of OB and addiction behaviors as well as improve current clinical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we investigated the association between Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) and the UPPS-P impulsivity facets in eating disorder patients and healthy controls. The prevalence of NSSI in eating disorder (ED) patients ranged from 17% in restrictive anorexia nervosa (AN-R) patients to 43% in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). In healthy controls (HC), the prevalence of NSSI was 19%. Eating disorder patients from the binge eating/purging type showed significantly more NSSI compared to restrictive ED and HC participants. Binge-eating/purging ED patients also scored significantly higher on Negative/Positive Urgency, Lack of Premeditation and Lack of Perseverance compared to HC and restrictive ED patients. Comparable findings were found between ED patients and HC with and without NSSI; ED patients and HC with NSSI scored significantly higher in four of the five UPPS-P dimensions compared to participants without NSSI; Sensation Seeking was the exception. Finally, the presence of NSSI in HC/ED patients was particularly predicted by low levels of Perseverance. Therefore, the treatment of ED patients with NSSI certainly needs to focus on the training of effortful control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]