The interaction between depression diagnosis and BMI is related to altered activation pattern in the right inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex during food anticipation

Background Depression and overweight/obesity often cooccur but the underlying neural mechanisms for this bidirectional link are not well understood. Methods In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we scanned 54 individuals diagnosed with depressive disorders (DD) and 48 healthy controls (HC) to examine how diagnostic status moderates the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and brain activation during anticipation and pleasantness rating of food versus nonfood stimuli. Results We found a significant BMI‐by‐diagnosis interaction effect on activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during food versus nonfood anticipation (p