Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study
Caffeine is ubiquitous, yet its impact on central taste processing is not well understood. Although there has been considerable research on caffeine’s physiological and cognitive effects, there is a paucity of research investigating the effects of caffeine on taste. Here we used functional...
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doaj-bf9eb498574e47c991c62c0bf27272de2020-11-24T20:44:35ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432018-12-011113410.3390/nu11010034nu11010034Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI StudyLaura Gramling0Eleni Kapoulea1Claire Murphy2Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USADepartment of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USADepartment of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USACaffeine is ubiquitous, yet its impact on central taste processing is not well understood. Although there has been considerable research on caffeine’s physiological and cognitive effects, there is a paucity of research investigating the effects of caffeine on taste. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate group differences between caffeine consumers and non-consumers in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) activation during hedonic evaluation of taste. We scanned 14 caffeine consumers and 14 caffeine non-consumers at 3 Tesla, while they rated three tastes: caffeine (bitter), sucrose (sweet), and saccharin (sweet with bitter after taste), in aqueous solutions. Differences in BOLD activation were analyzed using voxel wise independent samples t-tests within Analysis of Functional Neuroimage (AFNI). Results indicated that during the hedonic evaluation of caffeine or sucrose, caffeine non-consumers had significantly greater activation in neuronal areas associated with memory and reward. During the hedonic evaluation of saccharin, caffeine consumers had significantly greater activation in areas associated with memory and information processing. The findings suggest caffeine consumption is associated with differential activation in neuronal areas involved in reward, memory, and information processing. Further research on intensity and hedonics of bitter and sweet stimuli in caffeine consumers and non-consumers will be of great interest to better understand the nature of differences in taste perception between caffeine consumers and non-consumers.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/34fMRIcaffeinetastememory |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Laura Gramling Eleni Kapoulea Claire Murphy |
spellingShingle |
Laura Gramling Eleni Kapoulea Claire Murphy Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study Nutrients fMRI caffeine taste memory |
author_facet |
Laura Gramling Eleni Kapoulea Claire Murphy |
author_sort |
Laura Gramling |
title |
Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study |
title_short |
Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study |
title_full |
Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study |
title_fullStr |
Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Taste Perception and Caffeine Consumption: An fMRI Study |
title_sort |
taste perception and caffeine consumption: an fmri study |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Nutrients |
issn |
2072-6643 |
publishDate |
2018-12-01 |
description |
Caffeine is ubiquitous, yet its impact on central taste processing is not well understood. Although there has been considerable research on caffeine’s physiological and cognitive effects, there is a paucity of research investigating the effects of caffeine on taste. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate group differences between caffeine consumers and non-consumers in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) activation during hedonic evaluation of taste. We scanned 14 caffeine consumers and 14 caffeine non-consumers at 3 Tesla, while they rated three tastes: caffeine (bitter), sucrose (sweet), and saccharin (sweet with bitter after taste), in aqueous solutions. Differences in BOLD activation were analyzed using voxel wise independent samples t-tests within Analysis of Functional Neuroimage (AFNI). Results indicated that during the hedonic evaluation of caffeine or sucrose, caffeine non-consumers had significantly greater activation in neuronal areas associated with memory and reward. During the hedonic evaluation of saccharin, caffeine consumers had significantly greater activation in areas associated with memory and information processing. The findings suggest caffeine consumption is associated with differential activation in neuronal areas involved in reward, memory, and information processing. Further research on intensity and hedonics of bitter and sweet stimuli in caffeine consumers and non-consumers will be of great interest to better understand the nature of differences in taste perception between caffeine consumers and non-consumers. |
topic |
fMRI caffeine taste memory |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/34 |
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