A Neuroeconomics Approach to Obesity

ABSTRACT Obesity is a heterogeneous condition, affected by physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Value-based decision-making is a useful framework for integrating these factors at the individual level. The disciplines of behavioral economics and reinforcement learning provide tools for identifying specific cognitive and motivational processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Neuroeconomics complements these disciplines by studying the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. Here we survey recent literature on individual decision characteristics that are most frequently implicated in obesity: discounting the value of future outcomes, attitudes towards uncertainty, and learning from rewards and punishments. Our survey highlights both consistent and inconsistent behavioral findings. These findings underscore the need to examine multiple processes within individuals in order to identify unique behavioral profiles associated with obesity. Such individual characterization will inform future studies on the neurobiology of obesity, as well as the design of effective interventions that are individually tailored.