Li Hongjia, Li Siyao, Matsuo Kenji, Okamoto Tsuyoshi
Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Nichirei Foods Inc., Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Front Psychol. 2025 Apr 29;16:1522812. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1522812. eCollection 2025.
It has been reported that various physiological and psychological changes occur after consuming delicious food. Additionally, research on task performance efficiency following the consumption of delicious food has garnered significant attention. In particular, studies on physiological states have been actively conducted in recent years, with an increasing number of studies utilizing brain activity measurements. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the physiological changes that occur after consuming delicious food by administering a cognitive task, the Stroop task, and measuring brain activity during the task. In this study, two experiments were conducted to better understand the effects of consuming delicious food. Before starting the two experiments, we evaluated the taste of fried rice in a preliminary experiment and selected three types of them (delicious, slightly delicious, and normal) for the main experiment. In Experiment 1, 20 healthy students (19-26 years old, 11 females) were divided into two groups: 10 students in group 1 ate delicious fried rice and 10 students in group 2 ate normal fried rice. One experimental block included recording the EEG, performing the Stroop task, eating the given sample, and answering the questionnaire. Results of data analysis indicated that group 1 was significantly shorter (high work efficiency) than group 2 in terms of task work time. Concerning brain activity, group 1 showed lower theta and alpha amplitudes in the frontal regions (high arousal), and alpha band activity was lower in the left frontal region than in the right region (high approach motivation). In Experiment 2, 28 healthy students were asked to eat delicious fried rice and slightly delicious fried rice on different days. The daily experimental flow was set up as in Experiment 1. Results of data analysis showed that deliciousness and EEG were negatively correlated at theta and alpha band. This study provides novel evidence that eating delicious food increases work efficiency, arousal, and motivation for the task and decreases theta and alpha activities in limited brain regions. The observed neural profiles may enhance attentional states in high-demand occupational settings, while providing preliminary insights into neurophysiological mechanisms that might underlie food-related motivational processes.
据报道，食用美味食物后会发生各种生理和心理变化。此外，关于食用美味食物后任务执行效率的研究也备受关注。特别是近年来，对生理状态的研究一直在积极开展，利用大脑活动测量的研究越来越多。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在通过进行一项认知任务——斯特鲁普任务，并在任务期间测量大脑活动，来研究食用美味食物后发生的生理变化。在本研究中，进行了两个实验以更好地理解食用美味食物的影响。在开始这两个实验之前，我们在一个初步实验中评估了炒饭的味道，并选择了三种类型（美味、微美味和正常）用于主要实验。在实验1中，20名健康学生（19 - 26岁，11名女性）被分为两组：第1组的10名学生食用美味炒饭，第2组的10名学生食用正常炒饭。一个实验块包括记录脑电图、执行斯特鲁普任务、食用给定样本以及回答问卷。数据分析结果表明，在任务工作时间方面，第1组比第2组显著更短（工作效率高）。关于大脑活动，第1组在额叶区域显示出较低的θ波和α波振幅（高唤醒），并且左额叶区域的α波段活动低于右额叶区域（高趋近动机）。在实验2中，28名健康学生被要求在不同的日子分别食用美味炒饭和微美味炒饭。日常实验流程与实验1相同。数据分析结果表明，美味程度与θ波和α波段的脑电图呈负相关。本研究提供了新的证据，表明食用美味食物会提高工作效率、唤醒水平和任务动机，并降低有限脑区的θ波和α波活动。观察到的神经特征可能会增强高需求职业环境中的注意力状态，同时为与食物相关的动机过程背后的神经生理机制提供初步见解。
