Food olfactory cues reactivity in individuals with obesity and the contribution of alexithymia

Cecchetto, Cinzia; Pisanu, Elisabetta; Schöpf, Veronika; Rumiati, Raffaella I.; Aiello, Marilena

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2021.105827

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The reason why only the affective component was implicated in our result may be explained by the fact that positive stimuli are less demanding in terms of cognitive emotion regulation abilities [ 91 ]. Moreover, since most of the odors presented in Experiment 2 were food odors, and seen the association between alexithymia and abnormal eating behaviors [ 92 – 94 ], we deeper explored these effects on the rating of various odor categories also considering the level of hunger. Interestingly, individuals with higher or medium levels of cognitive alexithymia (with difficulties processing emotions at the cognitive level and low abilities to identify, analyze, and verbalize one’s feelings) did not seem to rely on their physiological state to rate odor intensity, as did individuals with low levels of cognitive alexithymia, for whom being hungrier predicted higher odor intensity rating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This evidence is in line with the hypothesis that cognitive alexithymia is associated with difficulties in effective emotion regulation [ 95 ], leading to the use of maladaptive, externalizing behaviours, such as binge eating [ 93 ] or exercise addiction [ 95 ], as strategies for coping with negative mood [ 96 – 98 ]. An alternative hypothesis suggests that general alexithymia is associated with a decreased interoceptive awareness and with deficits in the ability to detect, monitor, and regulate internal bodily processes, such as hunger [ 99 – 101 ] and with alterations in food processing [ 92 , 102 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This could be a limitation since previous studies have shown that depression is associated with lower olfactory abilities [ 53 ]; however, in Experiment 2 we replicated the analyses including the BDI-II scores as a covariate and the results were confirmed. Third, in Experiment 2, Body Mass Index (BMI) was not considered even though previous studies have shown that it affects the perceived hedonic qualities of odors [ 92 , 127 ]. Related to this point, future studies should also include a screening for the presence of eating disorders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alexithymia modulates the attitudes towards odors but not the olfactory abilities or the affective reactions to odors

et al. 2023

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Although emotion and olfaction are closely linked, only a few studies have investigated olfactory processing in alexithymia, a condition characterized by altered emotional processing. These results do not allow comprehensive conclusions on whether individuals with alexithymia present lower olfactory abilities or only altered affective reactions and awareness of odors. Three pre-registered experiments were conducted to clarify this relation. We assessed olfactory functions, the affective qualities of odors, the awareness of odors, the attitudes towards them, and the ability to form olfactory images in the mind. Bayesian statistics were used to assess differences between low, medium and high alexithymia groups, and Linear Mixed Models (LMMs) were applied to investigate the modulation of the affective and cognitive components of alexithymia. We observed that individuals with a high level of alexithymia presented the same olfactory abilities, and did not show differences in their rating of odors compared to individuals with low alexithymia levels, while they reported lower levels of social and common odor awareness and a more indifferent attitude towards odors. Olfactory imagery was not affected by alexithymia level, and the affective and cognitive components of alexithymia, when considered separately, modulated olfactory perception differently. Learning more about olfactory perception in individuals with alexithymia leads to a better understanding of how alexithymia impacts the perception of hedonic stimuli coming from different sensory modalities. Our results imply that treatment goals for alexithymia should be the enhancement of the conscious perception of odors, supporting the use of mindfulness-based protocols in the alexithymia treatment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alexithymia modulates the attitudes towards odors but not the olfactory abilities or the affective reactions to odors

et al. 2023

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“…HR and SCR are believed to be related to the reward perception reflecting implicit liking and wanting of a stimulus (Cecchetto et al, 2022; Kuoppa et al, 2016). An early study indicated that HR increased when participants were paid a monetary reward for each successful feedback compared to participants who received feedback only (Fowles et al, 1982).…”

Section: What Is Indexed In Autonomic Nervous System Measurements?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Autonomic Nervous System as a Window Into the Mind and Brain

Ishikawa

2023

European Psychologist

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Throughout the history of psychophysiology, measures of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) have contributed to understanding psychological states and cognitive processing. Due to recent advances in brain imaging techniques, brain mapping of cognitive functions has been clarified. However, ANS measurements still have advantages in psychological research. In this paper, characteristics of ANS measurements are briefly summarized and results in psychophysiological studies are introduced. This paper describes methodologies for heart rate, skin conductance, pupil diameter, and eye blinks, which have been used in many psychophysiological studies. These measurements have been known to reflect activities in the ANS, however, each measure has a different sensitivity and validity to psychological states and cognitive processes. In general, the ANS measurements have advantages in the simplicity of data collection, which contributes to testing with a variety of participants regardless of age, tasks, and accessibility for students and early career researchers. However, interpreting the results of psychophysiological studies in line with cognitive processing, experimental designs, and paradigms requires extensive consideration. By using appropriate ANS measures in psychophysiological experiments, these methods contribute to our understanding of the mind and brain.

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Orthonasal olfactory influences on consumer food behaviour

Zhang,

Spence

2023

Appetite

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Food olfactory cues reactivity in individuals with obesity and the contribution of alexithymia

Cited by 4 publications

References 77 publications

Alexithymia modulates the attitudes towards odors but not the olfactory abilities or the affective reactions to odors

Alexithymia modulates the attitudes towards odors but not the olfactory abilities or the affective reactions to odors

Measuring the Autonomic Nervous System as a Window Into the Mind and Brain

Orthonasal olfactory influences on consumer food behaviour

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