EEG-based Approach-Withdrawal index for the pleasantness evaluation during taste experience in realistic settings

The taste is a vital sense in humans, because of its active role in regulating nutrition or avoiding harmful substances. Several studies showed the important role of the brain Pre-Frontal Cortex in decoding information coming from the gustatory system. It is also widely known, in neuroscientific literature, that the asymmetry of Pre-Frontal Cortex Activity is closely linked to the feeling of pleasantness experienced by the subject during sensorial stimulation. In this regard, from the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal it is possible to estimate the Approach/Withdrawal (AW) index, which has been largely investigated and validated in scientific literature, regarding visual, acoustic and olfactory stimuli.