Cerebral Activity to Visual Presentation of Food

Abstract

A key signal to the initiation of a meal is the visual stimulus of the food. By seeing the food, we are aware of its availability and in many cases also about its palatability, which affect the motivation to initiate food intake. Brain imaging studies have shown activation in various cortical and limbic regions in response to visual stimulus of food. However, it is not always known whether the activations detected are specific for pictures of food as such or are also influenced by factors not related to food. In the present review, brain imaging studies focusing on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are presented to investigate cerebral responses to viewing pictures of food relative to nonfood pictures. In the comparison of food condition to nonfood, multiple brain regions have been shown to be activated including the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, insula, amygdala, and temporal, frontal, and orbital gyri. Although results suggest that many brain areas are involved, the role of the left hemisphere is dominating in the processing of visual food-related information among healthy subjects. The fMRI offers a very powerful tool to observe brain responses to visual presentation of food, but it also offers image artifacts, intensity, and resolution limitations in sophisticated experimental designs. There is still much to do.