The role of frontal pole cortex and personalized feedback in sustaining future-oriented healthy dietary behaviors

Lifestyle-related diseases remain a significant public health concern, highlighting the need to promote sustained health behaviors, particularly among young adults. The present study examines the role of the frontal pole cortex (FPC)-known for supporting persistence towards near-term goals-in promoting long-term health behavior change. Fifty participants were engaged over a 27-day period, during which they maintained daily food diaries. Participants were divided into two groups: one receiving Personalized Feedback (PF) tailored to individual dietary habits and another receiving Control Feedback (CF) involving general nutritional information. The PF group demonstrated higher engagement in diary completion, improved nutritional intake, and better mental health marked by a significant reduction in trait anxiety compared to the CF group. Notably, a distinct correlation between FPC structural features-cortical thickness, T1-weighted/T2-weighted ratio, and fractional anisotropy-and the frequency of diary loggings was observed exclusively in the CF group. This finding suggests that the structural prosperity of the FPC is associated with engagement levels without the modulation effects of personalized feedback. These outcomes highlight the potential of personalized feedback to utilize FPC-related mechanisms for enhancing long-term dietary habits, emphasizing the importance of considering neurobiological traits in health behavior interventions.