| Food cue reactivity (FCR) is conditioned biological, subjective, and behavioral responses
to stimuli that signal the availability of food. Reinforcer pathologies (RPs) refer to high
consumption of a reinforcer that involves: 1) consistently high preference for smaller, immediate
rewards over larger delayed rewards (delay discounting or DD) and 2) persistently high valuation
of a reward, such as food, despite increasing response costs (demand inelasticity). Dietary
restriction and sensitivity to the hedonically rewarding properties of food are associated with
processes involved in FCR and RPs. In addition, disordered eating, especially restrictive eating
and binge eating, is also correlated with these processes. However, no studies to date have
examined the extent to which restrictive and binge eating predict differences in FCR and RP
processes in a single study, especially in response to food and nonfood stimuli. Therefore, we
examined the effects of visual food cues on FCR and RP processes and the extent to which
disordered eating is involved. Undergraduate women (n=59) were recruited. Food and nonfood
images were presented on a computer using a within-subjects design. Under each set of stimuli,
swallowing and self-reported food cravings (measures of FCR), as well as food DD and demand
elasticity (measures of RPs) were compared. Self-reported disordered eating was also measured.
Results showed that food (compared to nonfood) images increased salivation, but not cravings,
DD, or inelasticity. Binge eating predicted self-reported craving, but no other disordered eating
variable predicted salivation nor RP measures. These data suggest that visual food cues and
disordered eating may relate more to FCR than RP in a nonclinical sample.
Keywords: delay discounting, demand, food cue reactivity, reinforcer pathology |