Wang Xiaolei, Wang Guangnan, Liu Donghong
College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
Foods. 2025 Jul 14;14(14):2460. doi: 10.3390/foods14142460.
Sweetness is a key dimension of sensory experience in food, and variations in the type and concentration of sweeteners can elicit distinct brain responses. In this study, electroencephalography (EEG) was employed to systematically evaluate neural activity elicited by different concentrations of sucrose solutions (1%, 3%, 5%, and 7%) and by non-nutritive sweeteners matched in perceived sweetness to a 7% sucrose solution (10% erythritol, 0.0133% sucralose, and 0.0368% stevioside). The results revealed that an increased sucrose concentration was associated with progressively weaker EEG signal intensity, suggesting that the brain can effectively distinguish sweetness intensity. Under iso-sweet conditions, different types of sweeteners induced significantly distinct EEG patterns, indicating that the nature of the sweetener modulates flavor perception at the neural level. Further analysis showed increases in both δ- and α-band power following sweet taste stimulation, with prominent activations observed in the frontal, parietal, and right temporal regions. These findings demonstrate the utility of EEG in detecting subtle differences in brain responses to sweeteners, offering new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying sweet taste perception.
甜味是食物感官体验的一个关键维度，甜味剂类型和浓度的变化会引发不同的大脑反应。在本研究中，采用脑电图（EEG）系统评估不同浓度蔗糖溶液（1%、3%、5%和7%）以及与7%蔗糖溶液甜度匹配的非营养性甜味剂（10%赤藓糖醇、0.0133%三氯蔗糖和0.0368%甜菊糖苷）引发的神经活动。结果显示，蔗糖浓度增加与EEG信号强度逐渐减弱相关，这表明大脑能够有效区分甜度。在等甜度条件下，不同类型的甜味剂诱发了显著不同的EEG模式，表明甜味剂的性质在神经水平上调节风味感知。进一步分析表明，甜味刺激后δ波和α波功率均增加，在额叶、顶叶和右侧颞叶区域观察到明显激活。这些发现证明了EEG在检测大脑对甜味剂反应的细微差异方面的实用性，为甜味感知的神经机制提供了新的见解。
