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Rogers PJ, Vural Y, Flynn AN, Brunstrom JM. Nutrient clustering, NOVA classification, and nutrient profiling: How do they overlap, and what do they predict about food palatability? Appetite 2024:107596. [PMID: 38969105 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 07/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
We compared the performance of three food categorisation metrics in predicting palatability (taste pleasantness) using a dataset of 52 foods, each rated virtually (online) by 72 to 224 participants familiar with the foods in question, as described in Appetite 193 (2024) 107124. The metrics were nutrient clustering, NOVA, and nutrient profiling. The first two of these metrics were developed to identify, respectively: 'hyper-palatable' foods (HPFs); and ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are claimed to be 'made to be hyper-palatable'. The third metric categorises foods as high fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) foods versus non-HFSS foods. There were overlaps, but also significant differences, in categorisation of the foods by the three metrics: of the 52 foods, 35 (67%) were categorised as HPF, and/or UPF, and/or HFSS, and 17 (33%) were categorised as none of these. There was no significant difference in measured palatability between HPFs and non-HPFs, nor between UPFs and non-UPFs (p ≥ 0.412). HFSS foods were significantly more palatable than non-HFSS foods (p < 0.049). None of the metrics significantly predicted food reward (desire to eat). These results do not support the use of hypothetical combinations of food ingredients as proxies for palatability, as done explicitly by the nutrient clustering and NOVA metrics. To discover what aspects of food composition predict palatability requires measuring the palatability of a wide range of foods that differ in composition, as we do here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Rogers
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
| | - Yeliz Vural
- Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Letters, Psychology Department, Kanuni Campus, Ortahisar, Trabzon, Türkiye, 61080
| | - Annika N Flynn
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Jeffrey M Brunstrom
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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González A, Sánchez J, de Brugada I. The nature of training in flavor preference learning determines the underlying associative structure. Behav Processes 2024; 220:105074. [PMID: 38942399 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024]
Abstract
Pairing a palatable flavor (US) with an initially neutral flavor cue (CS) results in an acquired conditioned preference for the latter. Two main associations have been proposed to explain the acquisition of flavor preferences: Flavor-Flavor and Flavor-Nutrient learning. Although the hedonic reaction triggered by US consumption has also been suggested as a possible additional component underlying acquired flavor preference, this issue has received little attention. Here we explored whether the amount of training to the CS-US compound can favor the formation of a Flavor-Hedonic reaction association using rats as subjects and sucrose as the US. We expected that the more exposure to the CS-US compound, the stronger the S-R type association. Since S-R associations are not sensitive to devaluation procedures, we used a Sensory-Specific Satiety procedure to devalue the US after conditioning and then measured preferences for the CS. On Experiment 1 with a short restrictive training (classic procedure), preference for the CS was decreased after devaluation of the US compared to the control condition. On Experiment 2, with short unrestrictive training, preference for the CS was again weakened. Experiment 3 with a long unrestrictive training, rats expressed preference for the CS regardless of the devaluation procedure. These results suggest that, as with an instrumental paradigm, extensive training in flavor preference learning undermines the US devaluation effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana González
- University of Granada, Department of Experimental Psychology, Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), Spain.
| | - Jesús Sánchez
- University of Granada, Department of Experimental Psychology, Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), Spain.
| | - Isabel de Brugada
- University of Granada, Department of Experimental Psychology, Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), Spain.
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Rogers PJ, Vural Y, Berridge-Burley N, Butcher C, Cawley E, Gao Z, Sutcliffe A, Tinker L, Zeng X, Flynn AN, Brunstrom JM, Brand-Miller JC. Evidence that carbohydrate-to-fat ratio and taste, but not energy density or NOVA level of processing, are determinants of food liking and food reward. Appetite 2024; 193:107124. [PMID: 37980953 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.107124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
This virtual (online) study tested the common but largely untested assumptions that food energy density, level of processing (NOVA categories), and carbohydrate-to-fat (CF) ratio are key determinants of food reward. Individual participants (224 women and men, mean age 35 y, 53% with healthy weight, 43% with overweight or obesity) were randomised to one of three, within-subjects, study arms: energy density (32 foods), or level of processing (24 foods), or CF ratio (24 foods). They rated the foods for taste pleasantness (liking), desire to eat (food reward), and sweetness, saltiness, and flavour intensity (for analysis averaged as taste intensity). Against our hypotheses, there was not a positive relationship between liking or food reward and either energy density or level of processing. As hypothesised, foods combining more equal energy amounts of carbohydrate and fat (combo foods), and foods tasting more intense, scored higher on both liking and food reward. Further results were that CF ratio, taste intensity, and food fibre content (negatively), independent of energy density, accounted for 56% and 43% of the variance in liking and food reward, respectively. We interpret the results for CF ratio and fibre in terms of food energy-to-satiety ratio (ESR), where ESR for combo foods is high, and ESR for high-fibre foods is low. We suggest that the metric of ESR should be considered when designing future studies of effects of food composition on food reward, preference, and intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Rogers
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
| | - Yeliz Vural
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Letters, Psychology Department, Kanuni Campus, Ortahisar, Trabzon, 61080, Türkiye
| | - Niamh Berridge-Burley
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Chloe Butcher
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Elin Cawley
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ziwei Gao
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Abigail Sutcliffe
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Lucy Tinker
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Xiting Zeng
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Annika N Flynn
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Jeffrey M Brunstrom
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - J C Brand-Miller
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia
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Palmer D, Cayton CA, Scott A, Lin I, Newell B, Paulson A, Weberg M, Richard JM. Ventral pallidum neurons projecting to the ventral tegmental area reinforce but do not invigorate reward-seeking behavior. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113669. [PMID: 38194343 PMCID: PMC10865898 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Reward-predictive cues acquire motivating and reinforcing properties that contribute to the escalation and relapse of drug use in addiction. The ventral pallidum (VP) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) are two key nodes in brain reward circuitry implicated in addiction and cue-driven behavior. In the current study, we use in vivo fiber photometry and optogenetics to record from and manipulate VP→VTA in rats performing a discriminative stimulus task to determine the role these neurons play in invigoration and reinforcement by reward cues. We find that VP→VTA neurons are active during reward consumption and that optogenetic stimulation of these neurons biases choice behavior and is reinforcing. Critically, we find no encoding of reward-seeking vigor, and optogenetic stimulation does not enhance the probability or vigor of reward seeking in response to cues. Our results suggest that VP→VTA activity is more important for reinforcement than for invigoration of reward seeking by cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dakota Palmer
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Christelle A Cayton
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Alexandra Scott
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Iris Lin
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Bailey Newell
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Anika Paulson
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Morgan Weberg
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Jocelyn M Richard
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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Socially conditioned flavor preferences with fluids: Transfer with solid foods, palatability, and testing constraints. Physiol Behav 2020; 223:112976. [PMID: 32473157 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In two experiments, the social influence on choosing between two novel diets was analyzed. In Experiment 1, a group of rats (demonstrators) ingested a novel flavor cue presented in powdered food or in a 4% sucrose solution. Afterwards, demonstrators interacted with a group of observer rats for 30 minutes. Preferences for the cue flavor and another flavor were tested in observers using a two-choice test in the same or in the opposite substrate (solid/liquid) as their demonstrators. When tested with solid foods, observers displayed higher intake of the flavor consumed by the demonstrators, regardless of whether the demonstrators had consumed it as a solid or liquid. However, when observers were tested with solutions, there was no demonstration of the same preference. Experiment 2 focused on solutions, presenting them at test either with the flavor as a water solution alone, or as a solution plus an aerosol presentation. In addition, a single-cue testing procedure was used to allow examination of the palatability (assessed through the analysis of licking behavior) of the test solutions. Under single-cue testing procedures with solutions, observer rats did consume more of the flavors previously consumed by the demonstrator animals, but there was no effect of social learning on the palatability of the test flavors. These results suggest that socially conditioned flavor preferences can be reliably observed with fluid solutions, will transfer between different substrates, and affect consumption to a greater degree than palatability. However, future experiments need to be performed to confirm some of these suggestions.
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