Seeing food pics affects our taste perception

Washington: Researchers say just looking at images of food can change our taste experience.

In a new study, participants reported tastes to be more pleasant when preceded by images of high-calorie foods, such as pizza or pastry, as compared to low-calorie foods like watermelon or green beans.

The researchers led by Johannes le Coutre of the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland, conducted neuroimaging studies that identified previously unknown brain mechanisms of visual-gustatory sensory interactions involved with food enjoyment.

Taken together, the study highlights the importance of visual food appeal as one determinant for nutritional reward.

The finding has been published in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

ANI