Institute of Psychology
Institute of Psychology
New Publication in eLife
25 April 2025, by Uğur Turhan
Hunger drives humans to seek calorie-dense foods. This tendency has been evolutionary adaptive as it ensured survival under conditions of scarcity. With a change in our food environment this drive may no longer be adaptive and could lead to adverse health outcomes if sustained.
In this study we focus on the cognitive mechanisms that underly the effect of hunger state on food choice. In a controlled experiment, 70 participants completed a binary food choice task in hungry and sated states while their eye-movements were recorded. In each trial, participants decided between two food options represented with a picture and their nutritional health scores (Nutri-Score).
We show that hunger increased the proportion of unhealthy food choice, and decreased the attention allocated to Nutri-Scores. The implemented computational model sheds light on the cognitive mechanisms through which hunger state affects choice. This model indicates that hunger increases unhealthy food choice by altering the decision-making process itself, decreasing the importance of health aspects and the effect of attending to nutritional information on choice.
Our findings suggest that Nutri Scores may only be considered when sated thereby increasing healthy choice. This poses potential for intervention strategies and health initiatives.
Press Release (EN, elifesciences.org)
Press Release (EN, eurekalert.org)
Press Release (GER, tagesschau.de)
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