6.5 How Ultraprocessed Foods Rewire the Brain with Arsene Kanyamibwa

Diet and obesity research has shifted dramatically over the past few decades, and ultraprocessed foods have taken center stage. In this episode of The Science Basement podcast, we sit down with Arsene Kanyamibwa from the O’Brain lab at the University of Helsinki to unpack the evolving world of diet, obesity, and nutrition. Join us as Arsene shares the story behind his research - from creating a specialized food picture bank that helped inform eating habits across Finland, to revealing the startling ways ultraprocessed foods impact structural brain composition.

Arsene Kanyamibwa is a PhD researcher at the University of Helsinki whose work focuses on investigating how macronutrient content and composition affect food choice, reward processes and their underlying neural mechanisms in diet and obesity.

Research mentioned in the episode:

de Araujo et al. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011643

DiFeliceantonio et al. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2018.05.018

Hall et al. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008

Kanyamibwa (2026). https://www.thesciencebasement.org/is-obesity-a-choice/

Kanyamibwa et al. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105512

Monteiro et al. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762

Morys et al. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44324-025-00056-3

Perszyk et al. (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13041203

Rauber et al. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.100948