The Role of Frontal Pole Cortex and Personalized Feedback in Sustaining Future-Oriented Healthy Dietary Behaviors

Abstract Lifestyle-related diseases present a significant health challenge, highlighting the critical need for promoting healthy behaviors, particularly among young adults. The frontal pole cortex (FPC) is known for its role in supporting persistence towards near-term objectives, yet its relevance in fostering long-term health behavior change remains less understood. This study investigates the association between FPC structural integrity and the adoption of sustained health behaviors targeting distant future goals. We engaged fifty participants in a 27-day study, where they provided daily food diaries and mental health assessments. Depending on their dietary analysis, participants received either personalized feedback (PF) or general nutritional feedback (CF). The PF group demonstrated higher engagement in diary completion and notable improvements in nutritional intake and mental well-being, evidenced by a significant decrease in trait anxiety, compared to the CF group. Interestingly, a significant correlation between FPC structural features (cortical thickness, T1-weighted/T2-weighted (T1w/T2w) ratio, and fractional anisotropy (FA)) and diary submission frequency was found exclusively in the CF group. These findings suggest that personalized feedback can effectively enhance dietary habits and mental health by potentially leveraging FPC-related mechanisms that underpin the maintenance of health-related behaviors over the long term.