Human hunger as a memory process.

Stevenson, Richard J.; Yeomans, Martin R.; Francis, Heather

doi:10.1037/rev0000413

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 197 publications

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“…The idiosyncratic nature of interoceptive hunger cues suggests the possibility that some of this variation might arise from childhood learning (Bruch, 1969;Stevenson et al, 2023). For example, if a child's stomach rumbled, a caregiver might remark "you must be hungry".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, as a general desire to eat, arising either from an interoceptive (e.g., rumbling stomach) or temporal (e.g., "its lunch time") cue. While appetite has been extensively studied, with several well-developed models (e.g., Lowe and Butryn, 2007;May et al, 2012;Papies et al, 2020), far less is known about the operation of temporal or interoceptive cues (Stevenson et al, 2023). For interoceptive cues, the focus here, there are clearly individual differences (see Stevenson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Practically, individual differences in hunger cannot only serve as new potential markers for disordered eating, they may also point to new treatment modalities, as we examine in the discussion. Theoretically, hunger is a central construct in biological psychology (e.g., Rogers and Brunstrom, 2016;Stevenson et al, 2023), yet many of its basic features remain unexplored, most notably the nature of interoceptive hunger and its variability, which are explored here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interoceptive hunger, eating attitudes and beliefs

et al. 2023

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Interoceptive individual differences have garnered interest because of their relationship with mental health. One type of individual difference that has received little attention is variability in the sensation/s that are understood to mean a particular interoceptive state, something that may be especially relevant for hunger. We examined if interoceptive hunger is multidimensional and idiosyncratic, if it is reliable, and if it is linked to dysfunctional eating and beliefs about the causes of hunger. Participants completed a survey just before a main meal, with most retested around 1 month later. We found that interoceptive hunger has 11 dimensions, and while people differ considerably in their combinations of interoceptive hungers, these represent only 4% of all possible permutations. Hunger reports were reliable. We found relationships between variability in hunger interoception and dysfunctional eating, especially for uncontrolled eating. We also found that hunger beliefs were in some cases strongly related to aspects of hunger interoception. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interoceptive hunger, eating attitudes and beliefs

et al. 2023

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“…Finally, Experiment 1 relied on self-report measures of height and weight, did not control for how hungry participants were at the time of testing, and tested a female-only sample. We included hunger since we are hypothesising that exposure to HFS diets impairs memory and through an effect on the hippocampus, and the experience of hunger has also been hypothesised to relate to hippocampal function [ 36 ]. We aimed to control for these limitations in Experiment 2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crucially the VCM does not specify that the hippocampal dysfunction caused by a Western style diet is specific to food/food memory and so the impairment can be measured using the type of general memory measures we employed in the three experiments reported below. Thus we test the wider implication of the VCM that it is this general diet-induced impairment to memory that alters response to food cues: when sated, food cues would not normally result in memory retrieval because of the role of the hippocampus in memory inhibition [ 36 ]. Consequently, non-specific inhibition of memory retrieval induced by overconsumption results in greater excitatory food memory retrieval when sated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitual intake of fat and sugar is associated with poorer memory and greater impulsivity in humans

Yeomans,

Armitage,

Atkinson

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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The vicious cycle model of obesity suggests that repeated habitual intake of a diet high in fat and sugar (HFS) results in impairment in hippocampal function which in turn increases impulsive behaviours, making it harder to resist unhealthy diet choices. Evidence from studies with rodents consistently show switching to a HFS diet impairs performance on hippocampally-sensitive memory tasks. The limited literature in humans also suggest impaired memory and increased impulsivity related to higher habitual HFS intake. However, these changes in memory and impulsivity have been looked at independently. To investigate how these effects are inter-related, three experiments were conducted where relative HFS intake was related to measures of memory and impulsivity. In Experiment 1 (90 female participants), HFS was associated with higher scores on the Everyday Memory Questionnaire-revised (EMQ), and higher scores on the total, Attention (BISatt) and Motor (BISmot) sub-scales of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS11). Experiment 2 (84 women and 35 men), replicated the association between HFS and EMQ, and also found HFS related to poorer performance on the hippocampally-sensitive 4 mountain (4MT) memory task. The association between HFS intake and the BISatt replicated, but there were no significant associations with other BIS11 measures or delay-discounting for monetary rewards. Experiment 3 (199 women and 87 men) replicated the associations between DFS and 4MT and EMQ, and also found an association with overall recall, but not response inhibition, from a Remembering Causes Forgetting task: HFS was also significantly associated with BIS total, BISatt and BISmot. In all three studies these associations remained when potential confounds (BMI, age, gender, hunger state, restrained and disinhibited eating) were controlled for. Mediation analysis found that the effect of HFS on memory at least part mediated the relationship between HFS and impulsivity in Experiments 1 and 3, but not 2. Overall these data provide some support for the vicious cycle model, but also suggest that trait impulsivity may be a risk factor for poor dietary choice.

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Caregivers’ Attention Toward, and Response to, Their Child's Interoceptive Hunger and Thirst Cues

Stevenson,

Serebro,

Mruk

et al. 2024

Developmental Psychobiology

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People can use their internal state to determine if they are hungry or thirsty. Although the meaning of some interoceptive cues may be innate (e.g., pain), it is possible that others—including those for hunger and thirst—are acquired. There has been little exploration of this idea in humans. Consequently, we conducted a survey among child caregivers to determine if the basic conditions necessary for interoceptive learning were present. Two‐hundred and thirty‐five caregivers of children aged 1–12 years were asked if they had recently noticed stomach rumbling, hunger‐related irritability, and a dry mouth in their child. They were also asked how they would respond. The impact of several moderating variables, especially caregiver beliefs about the causes of hunger, fullness, and thirst, was also explored. Fifteen percent of caregivers had recently noticed stomach rumbling in their child, 28% hunger‐related irritability, and 14% a dry mouth. Forty‐four percent of caregivers had noticed at least one of these three cues. Noticing hunger cues was significantly moderated by caregiver beliefs about their cause, by child age, and in one case by temporal context (around vs. outside mealtimes). Key caregiver responses were providing the need (e.g., offer food) and/or asking the child if they had a need (e.g., hungry?). Each type of response could potentially support a different form of interoceptive learning. In conclusion, we suggest the necessary conditions for children to learn interoceptive hunger and thirst cues, are present in many caregiver–offspring dyads.

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Human hunger as a memory process.

Cited by 7 publications

References 197 publications

Interoceptive hunger, eating attitudes and beliefs

Interoceptive hunger, eating attitudes and beliefs

Habitual intake of fat and sugar is associated with poorer memory and greater impulsivity in humans

Caregivers’ Attention Toward, and Response to, Their Child's Interoceptive Hunger and Thirst Cues

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