Effects of Imagined Consumption and Simulated Eating Movements on Food Intake: Thoughts about Food Are Not Always of Advantage

Exploring the effects of habituation and scent in first-person 360-degree videos on consumption behavior

Although immersive virtual environments can influence food-related thoughts, emotions and behavior, the influence of repeated exposure to food cues in such environments has rarely been explored. This study seeks to understand if habituation, a decrease in one's physiological and behavioral response that results from repeated simulation, can take place while repeatedly watching 360-degrees of food being consumed. The influence of scent as an olfactory cue is further explored, based on past research on embodied cognition. In Study One (n = 42), participants who viewed 30 repetitions of someone eating an M&M ate significantly fewer M&Ms than those who viewed three repetitions. Study Two (n = 114) used a 2 (behavior: eating M&M/inserting a coin) × 2 (repetitions: 3/30) between-subjects experiment to confirm that results from Study One were due to habituation of the consumption video, finding that there were only significant differences between repetitions in the M&M condition. Finally, Study Three (n = 161) comprised a 2 (repetition: 3/30) × 2 (scent: present/absent) between-subjects experiment. Participants in the 30-repetition condition and those in the scent-present condition ate significantly fewer M&Ms respectively, but no interaction effects were found. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Imagined eating - An investigation of priming and sensory-specific satiety

While obesity remains a pressing issue, the wider population continues to be exposed to more digital food content than ever before. Much research has demonstrated the priming effect of visual food content, i.e., exposure to food cues increasing appetite and food intake. In contrast, some recent research points out that repeated imagined consumption can facilitate satiate and decrease food intake. Such findings have been suggested as potential remedies to excessive food cue exposure. However, the practically limitless variety of digital food content available today may undermine satiation attempts. The present work aims to replicate and extend prior findings by introducing a within-subjects baseline comparison, disentangling general and (sensory-) specific eating desires, as well as considering the moderating influence of visual and flavour stimulus variety. Three online studies (n = 1149 total) manipulated food colour and flavour variety and reproducibly revealed a non-linear dose-response pattern of imagined eating: 3 repetitions primed, while 30 repetitions satiated. Priming appeared to be specific to the taste of the exposed stimulus, and satiation, contrary to prior literature, appeared to be more general. Neither colour nor flavour variety reliably moderated any of the responses. Therefore, the results suggest that a more pronounced variety may be required to alter imagery-induced satiation.

"I see myself": Craving imagery among individuals with addictive disorders

Craving has been put forward as a core feature of addictive disorders.

The present qualitative study investigated the experience of craving among individuals with addictive disorders and recent experiences of cravings.

Eleven individuals with Gambling Disorder and ten with Alcohol Use Disorder (n = 21) were recruited. A semi-structured interview explored: (1) modes of thought during craving (mental imagery or verbal thoughts), (2) craving content, (3) coping strategies and (4) craving context.

The thematic analysis showed that cravings were initially dominated by imagery, with a subsequent conflict between imagery and verbal thoughts. Craving content included imagery of preparative rituals, anticipation, and sensory activation, imagery of the addictive behavior "me, there and then imagery" and anticipating that "something good will come out of it." Some participants related to craving as a symptom of sickness, and coping with craving were through distraction, reminding oneself of negative consequences, or via sensory control: avoiding stimuli associated with the addiction. Craving contexts included typical settings of drinking or gambling and engagement of both positive and negative emotions. Alcohol craving was described as an expected relief from internal stimuli, such as anxiety or stress, whereas gambling craving was more often described as an expectancy of financial reward.

Craving was experienced mainly through imagery containing the preparative routines and expected outcomes. Future research and clinical practice should incorporate mode of thought in cravings to better understand its role in the maintenance of the disorders and their treatment.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2022.2058299 .

Specifics of the Emotional Response of Patients Suffering From Major Depressive Disorder to Imagined Basic Tastes of Food

Nowadays, the major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disease that negatively affects the life quality of many people around the world. As MDD symptoms are closely related with the changes in food and eating, the relation between patients’ emotional responses and food tastes could be used as criteria for diagnostic. Until now, studies on the emotional response to different food tastes for patients affected by MDD have been poorly described in literature. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the emotional response of patients suffering from MDD to the imagined different food tastes and to compare the results with a control group. Emotional responses in tested participants were induced by using cards with words of basic food tastes such as “sweet,” “salty,” “bitter,” “sour,” and “neutral.” The assessment of emotional response was performed with FaceReader 6 software. The outcome of this study showed that participants with MDD expressed lower “happy” and “contempt” and higher “surprised” emotions, along with a higher negative valence mean, in comparison with controls for all tested basic tastes of food (p ≤ 0.05). When Likert scale was used, significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) in response were only found for “sour” and “salty” imaginary tastes between healthy group and patients with MDD. The findings of this study provide the additional data on food–associated emotion analysis of MDD patients and could be useful for the further development of the contactless method for early diagnosis of MDD.

A Dieting Facilitator on the Fridge Door: Can Dieters Deliberately Apply Environmental Dieting Cues to Lose Weight?

Individuals exposed to dieting-related environmental cues have been repeatedly shown to be better able to resist tempting food. This especially applies to restrained eaters who hold a chronic dieting goal. Thus far, mainly short-term effects of environmental dieting cues have been examined and the individuals were typically unaware of being influenced. Yet, it is unclear whether individuals can deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate the pursuit of the longer-term goal of losing weight. The present longitudinal study applied a 2 (cue: visually dieting-related vs. visually neutral cue) × 2 (awareness: being aware vs. not being aware of the cue’s facilitating influence) between-subjects design for 6 months (N = 166 participants who started the study; M_age = 47.85 years; 69.9% female; M_BMI = 29.07 kg/m²). Our results provide preliminary indications that cue, awareness, and restrained eating interact. The results suggest that high (vs. low) restrained eaters could deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate losing weight. However, further studies are needed to explore the effects of environmental dieting cues over a longer period of time.

The effects of imaginary eating on visual food cue reactivity: An event-related potential study

Previous research has demonstrated that imagining consumption of a specific type of food helps individuals to consume less of that food. The present event-related potential study aimed at investigating the underlying neural correlates of this appetite-reducing strategy. A total of 86 women (mean age = 23.65 years) were randomly assigned to one of three imagination conditions. In each condition, they listened to a guided imagery script that either described the eating of 30 colorful button-shaped chocolates (M&Ms), the sorting of 30 M&Ms by color, or the sorting of 30 marbles by color. Subsequently to the imagery task, the participants were presented with images of M&Ms and marbles while their electroencephalogram and craving ratings were recorded. The results showed that imaginary eating did not reduce the appetitive value of M&M pictures. The M&M sorting group reported enhanced craving and showed increased late positivity toward M&M pictures (300-600 ms after picture onset) compared to the two other groups. The present findings indicate that the imagined handling of food increases food cue reactivity and that imaginary eating is not a reliable method to reduce appetite.

Novel Methodological Considerations Regarding the Use of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) Appetite Questionnaires in Tightly Controlled Feeding Trials

Visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaires are widely used in nutrition research to assess appetite and subsequent food intake. However, a number of methodological considerations exist. The study aims were to test whether 1) appetite VASs alter subsequent food intake and 2) viewing previous appetite responses influences subsequent responses. Twelve healthy adults (age: 22 ± 3 y; BMI: 22.0 ± 3.1 kg/m2) completed the randomized crossover study. On separate days, participants were provided breakfast preloads and completed appetite VASs every 30 min for 4 h or did not complete the questionnaires. When completing VASs, the participants were shown their previous responses (PR) or were not (No-PR). After 4 h, an ad libitum lunch was provided. Hunger, fullness, desire to eat, and prospective food consumption were not different between PR and No-PR. All data are reported as mean ± SEM. VASs did not affect lunch intake (484 ± 50 kcal) compared with no VASs (500 ± 53 kcal, nonsignificant). Thus, neither past appetite responses nor the use of appetite VASs influenced ingestive behavior in healthy adults. This trial was part of a larger acute, randomized crossover trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03154606.