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