Exploring the Link Between Visual Attention to Familiar or Novel Food Stimuli and Food Choice Using Integrated...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Nutritional Science
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Understanding food choice factors is crucial for public health strategies and promoting healthier eating.
• Attentional bias significantly shapes food preferences by influencing perception and reaction to food stimuli.
• While methods like dot-probe, eye-tracking, and electroencephalography exist, integrated approaches for assessing bias toward familiar vs. novel foods are underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in attention towards familiar and novel food stimuli.
• To utilize an integrated approach combining eye-tracking, dot-probe, and electroencephalography.
• To explore the relationship between attentional bias and self-reported food choices.

Main Methods:

• Recruitment of 40 healthy adult participants.
• Concurrent recording of visual attention (eye-tracking) and brain activity (electroencephalography) during presentation of familiar/novel food images.
• Measurement of reaction times (dot-probe task) as a behavioral indicator of attentional engagement.

Main Results:

• Data collection is ongoing, with 36 participants recruited as of submission.
• Analysis is planned post-completion of data collection, expected by July 2025.
• Results are anticipated for publication by December 2025.

Conclusions:

• The study aims to identify differences in attentional bias metrics for familiar versus novel food stimuli.
• Findings will offer preliminary insights into using integrated methods to capture attentional bias towards food stimuli.
• The research will explore links between these biases and actual food choice behaviors.