Satiation modulates attentional capture by food-related images but not food-brand logos
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In an obesogenic environment, we are constantly exposed to cues — such as images and smells — that remind us of the great availability of highly caloric and palatable foods. Through Pavlovian learning, these cues can predict the presence of food as a rewarding stimulus and motivate eating behavior, leading to excessive food consumption even when satiated. Several studies have investigated how food captures attention and how this effect can transfer to arbitrary stimuli artificially paired with food in the laboratory. This study examines whether environmental cues paired with food (logotypes) acquire the ability to bias attention and whether the motivational state of the subject modulates this effect. To this end, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, an odd-one-out task was used to measure attentional capture by food images and food-related logotypes when in a state of hunger. As expected, we replicated the attentional capture effect for food images and observed a similar bias toward food-related logotypes. In Experiment 2, a satiation devaluation procedure — consisting of ad libitum food intake — was applied before the attentional task. The results show that attentional capture by food images disappeared after satiation, whereas the bias toward food-related logotypes persisted. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which the obesogenic environment influences food intake and its implications for habitual behaviors such as eating in the absence of hunger.
Source: Food Quality and Preference
Authors: Irene Ruiz, Ana González, Isabel de Brugada
Language: English
Subfield: Nutrition and Dietetics
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,420
OpenAlex ID: W4415939227