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Sensory, cognitive, and metabolic drivers of eating behavior

Chair: Kathrin Ohla
dsm-firmenich

Mantelabstract: Author: Kathrin Ohla

Understanding the drivers of eating behavior is at the core of combating the global health challenges posed by obesity, malnutrition, and related disorders. Insight into the multifaceted factors influencing eating allows for the development of effective interventions. It is well-accepted that taste and smell play an intricate role in food perception and eating behavior through an interplay of sensory and cognitive processes. Neural encoding of taste and smell informs reward processing, and satiety signaling, and ultimately guides dietary preferences. Nevertheless, both senses are notoriously understudied. The first two presentations significantly contribute to understanding taste and smell perception and provide novel findings on how the brain codes taste and odor information that can be linked with behavior.
Even less understood is the role of tight attire in modulating bodily awareness, or interoception, which can regulate food intake as it provides individuals with real-time information about their internal physiological states. The 3rd presentation investigates the influence of attire on mind-body connections and exposes how the wearing of shapewear affects body image and dietary preferences. Lastly, the role of the neurotransmitters in food intake will be explored. Dopamine and serotonin have been linked with reward and motivation and appetite, respectively. The last two presentations examine the time-of-day fluctuations of dopamine in the regulation of impulsivity and fat intake and how insulin sensitivity regulates central serotonin functions in humans, unveiling implications for risk decision-making and mood behaviors.