Impulsive reactions to food-cues predict subsequent food craving

• Impulsivity is a moderator of substance-related cue-reactivity.
• Young women performed a stop-signal task with food and neutral pictures.
• Slow reaction times to food pictures predicted higher hunger ratings after the task.
• Low inhibitory control in response to food pictures predicted food craving.
• Impulsive reactions to food in particular are related to cue-elicited food craving.

Low inhibitory control has been associated with overeating and addictive behaviors. Inhibitory control can modulate cue-elicited craving in social or alcohol-dependent drinkers, and trait impulsivity may also play a role in food-cue reactivity. The current study investigated food-cue affected response inhibition and its relationship to food craving using a stop-signal task with pictures of food and neutral stimuli. Participants responded slower to food pictures as compared to neutral pictures. Reaction times in response to food pictures positively predicted scores on the Food Cravings Questionnaire — State (FCQ-S) after the task and particularly scores on its hunger subscale. Lower inhibitory performance in response to food pictures predicted higher FCQ-S scores and particularly those related to a desire for food and lack of control over consumption. Task performance was unrelated to current dieting or other measures of habitual eating behaviors. Results support models on interactive effects of top-down inhibitory control processes and bottom-up hedonic signals in the self-regulation of eating behavior, such that low inhibitory control specifically in response to appetitive stimuli is associated with increased craving, which may ultimately result in overeating.