Weight Loss: Researchers Learn More By Studying Teenage Brain Scans

Researchers have learned a bit more about weight loss by examining teen brain scans.

New findings published in the journal Obesity involved experiments with teenagers and fasting. During the study, hungry participants were shown pictures of different types of food, including burgers, fries, pizzas, syrupy waffles and even ice cream cones.

"The promising piece is that it appears we can help people to learn how to make better choices about food," said Chad Jensen, a psychologist at Brigham Young University, in a news release.

One of the groups consisted of overweight teens while the other consisted of formerly overweight teens who had lost weight. The last group was composed of teens who had historically maintained a healthy weight.

Researchers studied which parts of their brains lit up as they looked at the food. As the teens looked at different pictures of food, they found that the high calorie foods showed high levels of function in their pre-frontal cortex, which is also known as the area where "executive function" resides.

Findings showed that overweight teenagers had highest activity levels in this part of the brain when looking at decadent foods. Furthermore, this means they relied on executive function more than the other groups. 

Study authors discuss how a variety of activities can help improve children working to lose weight, including physical activities and even computerized training. Delaying rewards is key.