It is a matter of perspective: Attentional focus rather than dietary restraint drives brain responses to food stimuli

Brain responses to food are thought to reflect food's rewarding value and to fluctuate with dietary restraint. We propose that brain responses to food are dynamic and depend on attentional focus. Food pictures (high-caloric/low-caloric, palatable/unpalatable) were presented during fMRI-scanning, while attentional focus (hedo-nic/health/neutral) was induced in 52 female participants varying in dietary restraint. The level of brain activity was hardly different between palatable versus unpalatable foods or high-caloric versus low-caloric foods. Activity in several brain regions was higher in hedonic than in health or neutral attentional focus ( p < .05, FWE-corrected). Palatability and calorie content could be decoded from multi-voxel activity patterns ( p < .05, FDR-corrected). Dietary restraint did not significantly influence brain responses to food. So, level of brain activity in response to food stimuli depends on attentional focus, and may reflect salience, not reward value. Palatability and calorie content are reflected in patterns of brain activity.

Automated summary

Brain responses to food depend on attentional focus rather than palatability or calorie content. Higher brain activity is observed when attentional focus is hedonic compared to health or neutral. Palatability and calorie content can be differentiated based on patterns of brain activity. Dietary restraint does not significantly influence brain responses to food.