Neurophysiological Effects Associated With Subliminal Conditioning of Appetite Motivations

Author(s)

Amd, Micah ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Baillet, Sylvain ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] McGill Univ, Montreal Neurol Inst, McConnell Brain Imaging Ctr, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Psychol, Lab Human Behav Studies, Sao Carlos - Brazil

^[3] Univ South Pacific, Sch Social Sci, Dept Psychol, Suva - Fiji

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY; v. 10, MAR 5 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

When attempting to encourage eating, explicitly providing statements like ``eating is pleasant{''} may produce little effect. This may be due to subjective, negatively-valenced narratives evoked by perception of the verb ``eating{''} (e.g., eating -> fat lonely), overriding any explicitly provided eating-pleasant valence information. In our study, we presented eating-related verbs under subliminal visual conditions to mitigate the onset of eating-associated deliberation. Verbs were linked with neutral or positively valenced terms across independent blocks. Modulations of event-related magnetoencephalographic (MEG) components and parietal activations in the alpha range (8-12 Hz) illustrated a significant effect of valence during pre-lexical time windows. We found significantly greater saliva production and declarations of increasing hunger after eating-related verbs were linked with positive terms. Orally reported preferences did not vary between conditions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/24159-4 - Effects of delay on the decay of conditioned and derived valence functions
• Grantee: Micah Ahmad
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 17/02550-9 - Neurophysiological correlates of an emergent valence trace
• Grantee: Micah Ahmad
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor