Repeated Food Exposure Via the Olfactory and Gustatory Systems

Overview

Increasing exposure to a single orosensory cue without ingestion of additional energy may promote an increased rate of habituation, more rapid satiation, and reduced intake. This exposure can occur via smell (olfactory) and taste (gustatory) systems.It is not clear if repeated exposure via the combined olfactory and gustatory systems increases the rate of habituation more so than repeated exposure through one of these systems. Thus, the purpose of this investigation is to examine the amount of salivation occurring in 12 trials of exposure to a food via the olfactory, gustatory, and combined olfactory and gustatory systems. The primary dependent variable will be the amount of salivation in the 12 trials. It is hypothesized that a more rapid decrease in salivation will occur across trials in the combined olfactory and gustatory exposure as compared to the other two conditions, indicating a more rapid rate of habituation.

Approximately two of every three adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese. The high prevalence of overweight/obesity negatively affects the health of the population, as obese individuals are at increased risk for developing several chronic diseases. Successful control of body weight depends on effectively regulating eating. Satiation, the process by which an eating bout ends, assists with eating regulation, and factors that quicken the onset of satiation may aid with decreasing intake. One factor believed to influence satiation is the rate of decrease in consummatory response (habituation) to repeated presentations of food orosensory cues. Habituation is a basic form of learning, in which behavioral and physiological responses decrease in response to repeated presentations of a stimulus, with the decrease in response unrelated to sensory adaptation/fatigue or motor fatigue. In one condition, participants will smell lemon and lime across 12 trials (olfactory exposure), in another condition participants will taste the juices across 12 trials (gustatory exposure), and in the last condition participants will smell and taste the juices across 12 trials (olfactory + gustatory exposure). The primary dependent variable will be the amount of salivation in the 12 trials. It is hypothesized that a more rapid decrease in salivation will occur across trials in the combined olfactory and gustatory exposure as compared to the other two conditions, indicating a more rapid rate of habituation