Comparison of Post-Consumption Attention Between Two Different Aroma Types of Baijiu Using the Stroop Task

As attention reflects cognitive comfort after drinking, and consumers increasingly value mental clarity, there is a growing need for objective methods to quantify such post-consumption cognitive states. However, conventional expert sensory panels rely on subjective judgments and cannot objectively quantify post-consumption changes in attention. To address this gap, this experimental study applied and validated an established electroencephalogram (EEG)-based behavioral index and then investigated whether two aroma types of Chinese Baijiu with equal alcohol content differ in their effects on attention. Twenty-one adults completed the color-word Stroop task, and behavioral performance and neural responses were recorded before and after drinking. The results showed that despite the same alcohol content, different aroma types of Baijiu had varying effects on the accuracy of incongruent conditions in the behavioral task. Additionally, they exerted varying effects on the magnitude of the P200 component, an attention-related EEG signal typically occurring around 200 ms after stimulus onset. The light-aroma Baijiu (Sample 2) significantly reduced task accuracy and P200 amplitude, whereas the Qingya-flavored Baijiu (Sample 1) had no significant impact. These findings provide preliminary evidence that attention-based EEG behavioral metrics can serve as an objective reference for evaluating post-consumption cognitive quality and may inform product optimization and consumer-centered quality standards in the Baijiu industry.