EEG measures of attention toward food-related stimuli vary with food neophobia

Electrodermal activity as an index of food neophobia outside the lab

“…This is in line with the arousal hypothesis, which states that the increased arousal is inherently associated with the relation between food neophobia and food rejection (Jaeger et al, 2021 ). It is also in line with our previous study (Stuldreher et al, 2023 ), where we showed that food neophobic individuals were more attentive to food images in general (i.e., regardless the familiarity of the food item). As it is food in general that strongly draws attention in food neophobics, and as attention and arousal are related (Critchley, 2002 ), it is not surprising that we find that food neophobic individuals are already more aroused than food neophiliac individuals prior to the actual food is revealed (i.e., an anticipatory response).…”

“…If an increased arousal is indeed inherently associated to the rejection of food due to food neophobia, as stated in the arousal hypothesis by Jaeger et al ( 2021 ), increased arousal as indexed by an increased EDA might precede the actual presentation and thus perception of foods. This would also be in line with the increased attention of food neophobic individuals upon the presentation of food stimuli that we found previously (Stuldreher et al, 2023 ), as arousal and attention are closely coupled (Critchley, 2002 ). To the best of our knowledge, it has not been confirmed whether the level of arousal relates to the level of food neophobia in anticipation of the perception of food stimuli.…”

“…Interestingly, the association between the LPP amplitude and food neophobia was not only present when the participants observed novel food images, but also when they observed familiar food images, indicating that food neophobia affects attention more broadly than only toward novel food. In the same paper, Stuldreher et al ( 2023 ) also showed a positive correlation between food neophobia and another measure of attention, interpersonal physiological synchrony in EEG, when watching a movie on novel food. More evidence for a generally more aroused state of food neophobic individuals during food experience comes from a recent online study by Jaeger et al ( 2023 ).…”

“…Though we did not explicitly test it in the current study, we believe that our results are specific to food neophobia and not driven by the relation between general anxiety and novelty alone. Food neophobic individuals were shown to have an attentional bias and increased EDA in response to food-related stimuli (Raudenbush and Capiola, 2012 ; Stuldreher et al, 2023 ), while such effects have not been found in response to non-food stimuli (Raudenbush and Capiola, 2012 ). This suggests that it is not the association between anxiety and increased EDA toward novel stimuli that drives increased EDA in our study.…”

“…For instance, Raudenbush and Capiola ( 2012 ) reported that heart rate, EDA and respiration during the presentation of a variety of food images were significantly increased in food neophobic individuals compared to controls, indicating higher arousal in the former group than the latter. Using electroencephalogram (EEG), Stuldreher et al ( 2023 ) found evidence that attention to food pictures increases with food neophobia. More specifically, they reported a positive correlation between the food neophobia score and the late positive potential (LPP) amplitude when the participants observed food images.…”