Brunstrom Jeffrey M, Mitchell Gemma L
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, UK.
Br J Nutr. 2006 Oct;96(4):761-9.
Two experiments explored the hypothesis that distraction causes a reduced sensitivity to the physiological and sensory cues that signal when to terminate a meal. In Experiment 1, eighty-eight females ate five 'Jaffa Cakes' either while distracted by a computer game or while sitting in silence. Analysis of the difference in rated hunger, fullness and desire to eat (pre- to post-intake) revealed that distracted participants experienced smaller changes in their desire to eat and fullness than did non-distracted participants. Experiment 2 assessed whether changes in ratings are attenuated because sensory-specific satiety (or a related process) fails to develop. Using a similar procedure, eighty-four females provided desire to eat, pleasantness and intensity ratings for Jaffa Cakes and for two 'uneaten' foods, both before and at three time-points after consuming five Jaffa Cakes. Non-distracted participants reported a reduction in their desire to eat the eaten food relative to the uneaten food (food-specific satiety), whereas distracted participants maintained a desire to eat all foods. Moreover, this difference between distracted and non-distracted participants was evident 5 and 10 min after the eating episode had terminated. The present findings invite speculation that distraction attenuates the development of sensory-specific satiety, and that this effect persists (at least for a brief period) after the distractor has terminated. More generally, this kind of phenomenon warrants further scrutiny because it holds the potential to contribute towards overeating, either by prolonging an eating episode or by reducing the interval between meals.
分心会导致对生理和感官线索的敏感度降低，而这些线索能指示何时停止进食。在实验1中，88名女性在玩电脑游戏分心时或安静坐着时吃了5块“佳发蛋糕”。对饥饿感、饱腹感和进食欲望（进食前到进食后）评分差异的分析表明，分心的参与者在进食欲望和饱腹感方面的变化比未分心的参与者小。实验2评估了评分变化是否因特定感官饱腹感（或相关过程）未能形成而减弱。采用类似程序，84名女性在食用5块佳发蛋糕之前以及之后的三个时间点，对佳发蛋糕和两种“未食用”食物给出了进食欲望、愉悦感和强度评分。未分心的参与者报告说，相对于未食用的食物，他们对已食用食物的进食欲望有所降低（食物特定饱腹感），而分心的参与者对所有食物都保持进食欲望。此外，在进食结束后5分钟和10分钟时，分心和未分心参与者之间的这种差异很明显。目前的研究结果引发了这样的推测：分心会减弱特定感官饱腹感的形成，并且这种影响在干扰因素结束后（至少在短时间内）仍然存在。更普遍地说，这种现象值得进一步审视，因为它有可能通过延长进食时间或缩短两餐之间的间隔导致暴饮暴食。
