How our brain signals and appetite relate to obesity risk in teens
Official title: Relation of individual differences in fMRI-Assessed Satiation Signaling to Obesity Risk and Future Weight Gain
Funded at Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill · NIH-11332416 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study in teenagers looks at how the brain’s response to food at fullness might predict who will gain weight in the future.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project start | July 15, 2023 |
| Project end | May 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $566,100 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK133407-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11332416 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adolescents aged 13–16, with some at high obesity risk due to maternal obesity, who can participate in repeated brain imaging and physiological assessments.
✕Less likely to help
Teens who are not interested in imaging studies or cannot commit to the follow-up schedule may not benefit.
What this research studies
We will follow 132 healthy-weight adolescents aged 13–16, including 80 with higher obesity risk due to maternal obesity, to see how their brain signals during eating relate to future weight gain. Participants will undergo multimodal assessments, including an innovative fMRI task that measures brain responses to food cues as they become full, along with measurements of body fat, food intake, gut hormones, and cognitive abilities. This is a long-term, repeated-measures study that aims to map the direction of influence between satiation signaling and weight trajectories in adolescence. The insights could help identify early markers of obesity risk and inform prevention strategies tailored for teens.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could help identify teens at higher obesity risk and guide personalized prevention approaches.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has linked satiation signaling to obesity, but this study aims to establish directionality and predictive value in teens.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Burger, Kyle S. — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Burger, Kyle S.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.