Effect of Choice on Food Pleasure Using fMRI
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 55
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- BOLD signal recorded in the orbitofrontal cortex
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Previous studies have suggested that consumers who can choose what to eat could find food more pleasant, and consume more of that food, than when in absence of choice. However cognitive mechanisms that could explain the effect of choice have not been investigated. The study consists in a fMRI experiment intended to observe the effect of the presence of choice on brain activity following consumption of a fruit-flavored drink, compared to the brain activity when the same drink is consumed without choice. It is suggested that consumers will appreciate drinks they chose better, and that the activity in gustatory and reward regions will change accordingly to changes in declared food pleasure.
Detailed Description
The study will include one inclusion session (S1), one out-of-the-magnet tasting session (S2), and one fMRI session (S3). For all sessions, study drinks used are fruit-flavored drinks and fruit juices available on the French market. All subjects will undergo the same protocol, except for the choice of the three study drinks that will be done individually.
S1. After the inclusion/exclusion criteria have been verified, the subjects will perform tests to verify their gustatory/olfactory functions (four basic tastes testing and ETOC test). They will then taste study drinks, blindly, and rate perceived pleasantness.
S2. The out-of-the-magnet tasting session will include three parts:
S2.1 - familiarization with the study procedures. Subjects will be placed in conditions mimicking the fMRI session: they will be asked to lie in supine position, head placed in a false head coil, with the gustometer fixed above their mouth and a video screen visible to them to deliver instructions (visual paradigm created using E-Prime). They also will be given a rolling wheel to collect feedback. The rest of the session will be spent in this position. Subjects will then taste the whole range of study drinks (each drink twice, in a randomized order) and rate their pleasantness on visual analog scales (VAS).
S2.2. - learning picture-drink associations. Three drinks will be chosen based on the ratings given during the first part of the session (three equally appreciated, well-liked (VAS score >50) drinks). Subjects will then taste these three drinks repeatedly while observing abstract pictures. The objective of this sequence is to learn 3 picture-drink pairs.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Na
- Intervention Model
- Single Group
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to 30 Years (Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •- French resident
- •French-speaking
- •18-30 years old
- •BMI between 18 and 25kg/m2
- •stable weight for at least 3 months
- •non-smokers
- •favorable results at the study questionnaires (TFEQ, gustatory test, ETOC test)
Exclusion Criteria
- •- unwilling to participate in the study
- •minors or adults under guardianship/custody
- •subjects without social security
- •subjects with a cold
- •anosmia or ageusia
- •disgust for study products
- •allergies to study products
- •history of neurologic or psychiatric pathologies
- •subjects undergoing exclusion period after another study
- •subjects with a counter-indication to undergo an fMRI scan
- •subjects on medication
Arms & Interventions
fMRI
The study consists in a fMRI experiment intended to observe the effect of the presence of choice on brain activity following consumption of a fruit-flavored drink, compared to the brain activity when the same drink is consumed without choice.
Intervention: fMRI (Procedure)
fMRI
The study consists in a fMRI experiment intended to observe the effect of the presence of choice on brain activity following consumption of a fruit-flavored drink, compared to the brain activity when the same drink is consumed without choice.
Intervention: fruit-flavored drink ingestion (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
BOLD signal recorded in the orbitofrontal cortex
Time Frame: at 2 weeks of study
Secondary Outcomes
- BOLD signal recorded in the gustatory cortex(at 2 weeks of study)
- Liking scores measured by the Visual analog scales(at 2 weeks of study)
- Number of times each drink was chosen by the subjects(at 2 weeks of study)
- BOLD signal recorded in the insula, frontal operculum and the subcortical regions(at 2 weeks of study)
- Liking scores measured by the Visual analog scales(at 1 week of study)