Does my brain want what my eyes like? – How food liking and choice influence spatio-temporal brain dynamics of food viewing

Abstract

How food valuation affects decision-making, and how both influence the perception of food, is of major interest to better understand food intake behavior and, by extension, body weight management. Our study investigated behavioral responses and spatio-temporal brain dynamics by means of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in twenty-two normal-weight participants when viewing pairs of food photographs. Participants rated how much they liked each food item (valuation) and subsequently chose between the two alternative food images.Unsurprisingly, strongly liked foods were also chosen most often. Foods were rated faster as strongly liked than as mildly liked or disliked irrespective of whether they were subsequently chosen over an alternative. Moreover, strongly liked foods were subsequently also chosen faster than the less liked alternatives. Response times during valuation and choice were positively correlated, but only when foods were liked; the faster participants rated foods as strongly liked, the faster they were in choosing the food item over an alternative. VEPs modulated according to the level of liking attributed as well as the subsequent choice as early as 135-180ms after food image onset. Analyses of neural source activity patterns over this time interval revealed an interaction between liking and the subsequent choice within the insula, dorsal frontal and superior parietal regions. Only when foods were chosen did the attributed level of liking modulate neural responses to food viewing. Therein, the responses to disliked foods were generally greater than those to foods that were liked more. Moreover, the responses to disliked but chosen foods were greater than responses to disliked foods which were subsequently dismissed for an alternative offer. Our findings show that the spatio-temporal brain dynamics to food viewing are immediately influenced both by how much encountered foods are liked, and in parallel by choices participants have to take. These valuation and choice processes are subserved by brain regions involved in salience and reward attribution as well as in 4 decision-making processes, which are likely to influence prospective dietary choices in everyday life.5

Fat Content Modulates Rapid Detection of Food: A Visual Search Study Using Fast Food and Japanese Diet

“…Therefore, our data suggest that high-fat food enhances human visual attention, but this effect might not be modulated strongly by subjective liking or perceived economic value. However, this result was inconsistent with a previous study showing that RTs associated with preferences are faster for more-liked food than less-liked food (Bielser et al, 2016). This discrepancy might be explained by the use of different tasks (i.e., a visual search task vs. task on food choice according to preferences).…”

“…Several studies using a visual probe task showed that hunger enhanced visual attention to food stimuli (Nijs et al, 2010; Tapper et al, 2010). Bielser et al (2016) also reported that the RTs of judgments concerning liking food were faster when the stimuli were an individual’s preferred food. Moreover, we assessed the evaluations of the monetary value of food items.…”

“…Moreover, given the enhanced visual attention afforded to food with high levels of fat (Toepel et al, 2009; Harrar et al, 2011), we also predicted that fast food would be detected faster than the Japanese diet items. In addition, we assessed the possible effects of body mass index (BMI), self-reported hunger levels, subjective liking, and evaluations of the monetary value of food on the speed of detection of food targets, because these factors could affect the visual processing of food (Nijs et al, 2010; Tapper et al, 2010; Nummenmaa et al, 2011; de Oca and Black, 2013; Bielser et al, 2016; for a review, see Werthmann et al, 2015). …”

Asociación entre el sistema de recompensa del cerebro y elección de comida en adultos mayores y de mediana edad

“…22 referencias son estudios en adultos mayores, del resto la mayor parte corresponde a adultos entre 20 a 40 años. En relación con las áreas de análisis definidas y nombradas previamente, los artículos escogidos se distribuyen de la siguiente forma: 8 trabajos (1,4,7,8,12,13,18,19) los circuitos neuronales de dicho mecanismo y su asociación con la ingesta de alimentos y sus alteraciones. Se analiza también, como cambia el mecanismo de recompensa durante el envejecimiento, la relación con el sentido del gusto, relación con la función de la dopamina, evaluación de aspectos hedónicos en la ingesta y relación con la obesidad.…”

“…comida. Específicamente, en relación con la elección de la comida, se han centrado en adultos entre 20 a 40 años, sanos y con un índice de masa corporal (IMC) normal (hasta 25), dejando de lado otras poblaciones de estudio (adultos por sobre 50 años, incluidos adultos mayores) y un análisis interdisciplinario (12,13).…”