Food Inhibitory Control and Reward Responsiveness in Healthy Aging

Living in a complex food environment, humans face numerous decisions and choices every day. These decisions necessitate cognitive resources and the ability to balance metabolic needs with gratification. This study sought to examine whether aging enhances responses to food stimuli due to reduced inhibitory control or reduces such responses due to a decline in the motivational system.

50 young adults, aged 20-30 years, and 55 older adults, aged 65-91 years, without obesity, were recruited. Participants were asked to rate explicitly liking, wanting, and healthiness of both high- and low-calorie foods on a Likert scale. Additionally, they completed an affective priming task measuring affective reactions toward foods and a food go/no-go task to assess inhibitory control.

Older adults exhibit reduced food liking and wanting compared to young adults, but did not show increased impulsivity or implicit preference for high- and/or low-calorie foods. No significant relationship between perceived healthiness and reward responsiveness was observed in the older adult group.

Our findings suggest that healthy aging is characterized by a diminished response to food due to low reward responsiveness. This is noteworthy, as the hedonic properties of foods are commonly believed to guide dietary choices. Understanding the relationship between age and food-related behavior is crucial for developing targeted dietary interventions for older adults, which could enhance their overall health and quality of life.