Week 2: Business, Hunger, Marketing Flashcards
What is ‘visual hunger’?
The natural desire or urge to see food images, along with the neural, physiological, and behavioral responses triggered by viewing such images.
What sensory systems besides vision contribute to assessing a food’s palatability?
Taste (gustation), smell (olfaction), and texture (touch or oralsomatosensation).
What is the impact of the sight and smell of food on brain metabolism?
A PET study found a 24% increase in whole brain metabolism in response to the sight and smell of appetizing food.
How are neuroimaging studies on food perception potentially limited?
Participants in such studies are far removed from real-world, multisensory food experiences, typically viewing unappealing, controlled food images without the expectation of consumption.
How does weight affect neural response to visual food cues?
Obese individuals exhibit greater neural activation in areas associated with reward processing, reinforcement, emotional processing, and more, especially for high-calorie foods.
How is the neural response to food pictures influenced by the expected energy content of the food?
The hypothalamus/ventral striatum response is modulated by the expected energy content of the food.
How have evidence accumulation models evolved with regard to neural processes?
Recent work has linked evidence accumulation to neural processes supporting decision-making behavior, as observed through neuroimaging and electrophysiological recordings.
Evidence accumulation models have traditionally been computational frameworks used to describe how decisions are made over time based on accumulating information. These models suggest that as information is gathered, it gets “added up” until it reaches a certain threshold, at which point a decision is made. For example, when deciding whether to choose A or B, you might be adding evidence in favor of each choice until one outweighs the other enough to trigger a decision.
The evolution in this field has been the integration of neural data, primarily through neuroimaging techniques like fMRI and electrophysiological methods like EEG or single-cell recordings. Researchers have now been able to identify specific neural substrates that correspond to the mechanisms proposed in evidence accumulation models. For example, regions like the posterior parietal cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have been implicated in the accumulation of evidence during decision-making tasks.
This fusion of computational models with neural evidence enriches our understanding by grounding abstract models in biological reality. It helps to validate or refine the models and provides a more complete picture of the decision-making process, linking behavior and neural activity.
How successful have evidence accumulation models been?
Extremely successful, both as mechanistic explanations for cognitive processes in decision-making and as tools for estimating cognitive components in observed effects.
What is the foundational concept of evidence accumulation models?
Evidence about the decision accumulates over time, triggering a decision when a sufficient amount of evidence is gathered in favor of one choice over another.
What is the dilemma with MRI abnormalities in neuromarketing?
Around 1% of MRI scans may show abnormalities, but there’s no standard for how to handle these situations, opening firms and clients to medical liability.
What are ‘central’ and ‘peripheral’ routes of influence in neuromarketing?
Central routes aim to influence consumers based on the functional aspects of a product, while peripheral routes seek to manipulate preferences through unrelated elements, like the sex appeal of people in ads.
Why is the use of peripheral routes considered more ethically dubious?
Peripheral routes in neuromarketing are considered more ethically questionable because they aim to manipulate preferences through elements that are not directly related to the product itself.
What is Reaction Time (RT) and who was the first to measure it?
Reaction Time (RT) is the time it takes to respond to a stimulus. Franciscus Donders was the first scientist to measure it.
What did Donders measure in a simple RT task?
In a simple RT task, Donders measured the time interval between the presentation of the light and the person’s button press.
How does Choice Reaction Time (CRT) differ from Simple RT?
CRT is longer than Simple RT because it involves making a choice between different stimuli
What is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)?
The ANS is part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates bodily functions like heart rate, respiratory rate, and pupillary response.
What happens physiologically during the fight-or-flight response?
Heart rate increases, pupils dilate, sweat glands activate, and reaction times quicken.
What is Electrodermal Activity (EDA)?
EDA is the electrical properties of our skin responding to the environment, also known historically as skin conductance or galvanic skin response (GSR).
What does the Electrocardiogram (ECG) measure?
ECG measures the rate and rhythm of heartbeats.
What is Electromyography (EMG)?
EMG is a technique for recording and evaluating the electrical activity produced by muscles.
How do eye movements work during reading, according to eye tracking research?
The eyes make a series of short stops called ‘fixations’, followed by quick jumps known as ‘saccades’.
What are the advantages and limitations of optical eye tracking methods?
Advantages: non-invasive, relatively inexpensive. Limitations: Needs accurate calibration, interpretation requires expertise.
What happens when neurons fire?
When neurons fire, they exchange ions to maintain resting potential and propagate action potentials.
What does the EEG activity from each electrode reflect?
The EEG activity from each electrode reflects the summation of the synchronous activity of thousands or millions of neurons.
Which neurons are thought to contribute mostly to the EEG signal?
Pyramidal neurons of the cortex are thought to contribute mostly to the EEG signal.
What can our tongue taste?
What were the findings of this study?
What happens if you take mint chewing gum that has lost its flavour out of your mouth and roll it in icing sugar and the pop it back in your mouth?
you will get the mintiness back
The odours coming in from the nose to the receptors in the olfactory epithelium is called the …
orthonasal olfaction route.
The two different type of olfaction are associated with the two different types of what reward?
What were the findings of this study?
What goes into flavour perception
What is the jellybean tasting experiment?
Smells come into the nose and activate receptors in the….
olfactory epithelium
After the olfactory epithelium where is information passed to?
Olfactory bulb
in the primary sense cortices, the smell first reaches the _________ and then goes into the _____ and through the ________. Then sent back to the ____
Piriform cortex
amygdala
thalamus
orbital frontal cortex
taste is processed by the primary taste cortex in the _____
insula
Smell is processed in the _____ cortex
piriform
What is the trigeminal nerve?
What is chemesthesis?
