Medical School Berlin, Calandrellistr. 1-9, 12247, Berlin, Germany.
Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 2;13(1):1954. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28553-9.
Taste may be the first sense that emerged in evolution. Taste is also a very important sense since it signals potential beneficial or dangerous effects of foods. Given this fundamental role of taste in our lives, it is not surprising that taste also affects our psychological perception and thinking. For example, previous research demonstrated remarkable psychological effects of sweet taste experiences, suggesting that sweetness may be a source domain for prosocial functioning. Recent research reports that briefly experiencing sweet taste made participants more helpful in their intentions and behavior. The current study aims to test this hypothesis and to examine the neural underpinnings of this effect by using an fMRI approach. Participants were asked to taste sweet, salty, and neutral taste while lying in the fMRI scanner. Subsequently their prosocial behavior was tested by playing the dictator game, a measure of prosocial behavior. Results showed that sweet taste was associated with an increase in prosocial behavior compared with previously experiencing salty taste but did not affect control stimuli ratings. FMRI results revealed a modulation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex associated with this sweetness effect. This brain area is known to play a central role for monitoring conflicts and decisions and has been directly linked to selfish and prosocial economic decisions. The results demonstrate that sweet taste has complex psychological effects including positive and socially desirable outcomes. We discuss the results with other studies on psychological sweetness effects and suggest possible implications of these findings.
味觉可能是进化中最早出现的感觉。味觉也是一种非常重要的感觉，因为它能提示食物的潜在有益或有害影响。鉴于味觉在我们生活中的这种基本作用，味觉也会影响我们的心理感知和思维就不足为奇了。例如，先前的研究表明，甜味体验会产生显著的心理效应，这表明甜味可能是亲社会功能的源域。最近的研究报告称，短暂体验甜味会使参与者在意图和行为上更乐于助人。本研究旨在通过 fMRI 方法检验这一假设，并探讨这种效应的神经基础。参与者被要求在 fMRI 扫描仪中品尝甜味、咸味和中性味道。随后，通过玩独裁者游戏来测试他们的亲社会行为，这是衡量亲社会行为的一种方法。结果表明，与之前体验咸味相比，甜味与亲社会行为的增加有关，但不会影响控制刺激的评分。fMRI 结果显示，与甜味效应相关的背侧前扣带皮层被调节。这个大脑区域被认为在监测冲突和决策方面发挥着核心作用，并且与自私和亲社会的经济决策直接相关。研究结果表明，甜味具有复杂的心理效应，包括积极和社会期望的结果。我们将这些结果与其他关于心理甜味效应的研究进行了讨论，并提出了这些发现可能的意义。
