Feed-forward neural network model for hunger and satiety related VAS score prediction.

Background: An artificial neural network approach was chosen to model the outcome of the complex signaling pathways in the gastro-intestinal tract and other peripheral organs that eventually produce the satiety feeling in the brain upon feeding.

Methods: A multilayer feed-forward neural network was trained with sets of experimental data relating concentration-time courses of plasma satiety hormones to Visual Analog Scales (VAS) scores. The network successfully predicted VAS responses from sets of satiety hormone data obtained in experiments using different food compositions.

Results: The correlation coefficients for the predicted VAS responses for test sets having i) a full set of three satiety hormones, ii) a set of only two satiety hormones, and iii) a set of only one satiety hormone were 0.96, 0.96, and 0.89, respectively. The predicted VAS responses discriminated the satiety effects of high satiating food types from less satiating food types both in orally fed and ileal infused forms.

Conclusions: From this application of artificial neural networks, one may conclude that neural network models are very suitable to describe situations where behavior is complex and incompletely understood. However, training data sets that fit the experimental conditions need to be available.