Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-20-2025

Abstract

Background:

Insufficient sleep and circadian timing are both linked with obesity, primarily via unhealthy food choice, yet the cognitive mechanisms underpinning such relationships remain unclear.

Methods:

Across two studies, we implemented an ecologically valid within-subjects at-home protocol. Study 1 (n = 118) involved a within-subjects examination of how sleep restriction (SR) versus well-rested (WR) sleep levels affect choices in a food-based approach-avoidance task (AAT) and go–no/go (GNG) task, a food liking task, a food-choice task, a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), and a monetary choice task. Study 2 (n = 119) involved examining choices in the same set of tasks administered once in the afternoon (4pm) and once during the night (4am), which leveraged circadian influences on sleepiness and cognitive function.

Results:

During the night, participants indicated steeper discounting rates relative to the afternoon. Furthermore, such rates predicted higher liking of high-calorie food choices regardless of time of day and when sleep restricted. Approach bias for low-calorie food interacted with the night condition in predicting both low- and high-calorie food choices.

Conclusion:

Both delay discounting and approach bias may be important cognitive mechanisms predicting food liking and choice under sleep restricted and altered circadian timing conditions. Further research should replicate such results using real rewards.

Comments

This article was originally published in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, volume 13, issue 1, in 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2025.2520838

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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