taste and palatability+ liking vs wanting

Question 1

what is palatability

Answer 1

“Palatability is the hedonic component of food reward, and results from a central
integrative process that can incorporate aspects not only of the taste, but of the
physiological state and of the individual’s associative history” (Berridge, 1996).

Question 2

liking vs wanting

Answer 2

• Homeostatic processes and palatability are not the only processes
  guiding intake
• Hedonic (non-homeostatic) reward mechanisms play a part as well.
  ▫ Affect (liking)
  ▫ Motivation (wanting)
• Berridge (1996) first to discriminate these two components of
  pleasure through work with animals.
  “When you have eaten a really large meal, for example,
  Christmas dinner, does the food now not taste good, or
  rather is it that you are simply too full to eat more?
  Indeed, perhaps it is somewhat frustrating that there is
  plenty of nice-tasting food left, but you are too full to eat
  it” (Rogers & Hardman, 2015).

cabanac 1992- hunger affects liking

franken and murrsi 2005- and Volkow 2002- effects of dopamine systems on food intake

Question 3

neuropsychology of liking vs wanting

Answer 3

• Berridge (1996): Lesion studies demonstrated liking & wanting activated different areas of the brain in animals
• Evidence from pharmacological studies in humans suggest activation of different systems and neurotransmitters.
  ▫ Liking: – opioid and GABAnergic systems
   Opioid blockers reduce pleasantness but not hunger (e.g.,
  Cambridge et al., 2013; Drewnowski et al., 1995).
  ▫ Wanting: – Dopaminergic neurotransmitters
   Dexfenfluramine –reduce hunger but no effect on pleasantness (e.g., Blundell & Hill, 1992)
• Much more difficult to dissociate using self-report; poor awareness of hedonic
  changes

Question 4

dissociating liking vs wanting study

Answer 4

Finlayson, King & Blundell (2007).
* 53 participants; mean age 21.4
* Photos of 20 foods (high fat, low fat, savoury, sweet)
▫ Liking – Visual Analog Scale
▫ Wanting – Forced choice
“Which of these foods would you most like to eat now?”
* Changes in food liking and wanting assessed pre & post meal.

FINDINGS-
When hungry…
* Wanted high fat savoury over low fat savoury; no differences in liking.
* Liked high fat sweet more than low fat sweet, but no differences in wanting.
When satiated, the pattern was reversed:
* Liked high fat savoury over low fat savoury, but no differences in wanting
* Wanted high fat sweet foods over low fat sweet foods, but no differences in liking

THIS SHOWS:
ISSUES in self report measures
The study highlights discrepancies between liking and wanting, which demonstrate the limitations of self-report measures in capturing eating motivations:

“Liking” vs. “Wanting” are distinct processes:

Liking refers to the sensory pleasure derived from food.
Wanting is the motivational drive to obtain or consume the food.
Participants may report high liking for a food even when they don’t want to eat it at that moment (e.g., when they are full), or high wanting without necessarily liking the food more.
Example: When satiated, participants liked high-fat savory foods more but didn’t want them as much, showing that liking doesn’t always predict wanting

Question 5

more

Answer 5

Wanting The drive to obtain and eat food, often caused by physiological triggers such as the fullness of the stomach or glucose levels in the blood. Our wanting can also be implicitly influenced by triggers labelled as ‘food cues’

Liking The subjective experience of pleasure as a result of eating the food

Evidence suggests this dissociation between wanting and liking is particularly noticeable when individuals are under stress or emotional strain. Emotional eating or comfort eating isn’t always born out of an excessive liking for certain foods, but rather an increased want due to the ‘wanting’ brain pathways being sensitive to emotional stress.

In more extreme instances, this dissociation between wanting and liking can be a factor in conditions such as binge eating disorder and obesity.