Perception-specific saturation

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Perception- specific satiety describes a phenomenon that describes the decreasing desire to continue consuming a certain food while consuming it and the simultaneous regaining of appetite when switching to a different food or a new taste.

discovery

The first description was in 1956 by the French physiologist Jacques Le Magnen , whereas the term sensory-specific satiety was coined in 1981 by Barbara J. Rolls and Edmund T. Rolls . The aim is to describe the role of physical stimuli in stimulating appetite and, in particular, the importance of taste as an important influence on the feeling of hunger. In addition to conditioned satiety and alliesthesia , perception- specific satiety is one of the three main mechanisms of satiety .

principle

At a buffet, guests tend to eat larger quantities overall than if they only ordered a single dish instead.

The phenomenon is illustrated at a buffet . If people are presented with a larger selection of dishes and flavors there, the likelihood increases that they will consume larger amounts of food overall, since the appetite is constantly renewed through the presentation of new sensory stimuli. In a study by Rolls and van Duijvenvoorde from 1984, a buffet was simulated and test subjects were served 4 meals consisting of sausages, bread with butter, chocolate desserts and bananas. Then the test subjects were given 4 courses each of one of these foods. In the results it could be observed that the subjects ate around 44% more food when they were given the meals consisting of a number of different foods.

Factors that influence the feeling of satiety after eating (so-called postingestive factors ), such as energy density and food composition , could influence the palatability of meals and subsequently promote or suppress perception-specific satiety. The studies by Birch and Deysher (1986) and Barbara J. Rolls were summarized in a paper by Raynor and Epstein and showed that the posting-positive factors did not have too great an influence on the perception-specific saturation. It was concluded that this type of satiety is more influenced by external factors, such as the nature of the food, than by internal factors.

Obesity and Perceptual Satiety

Several studies have shown that eating monotonous meals (i.e. a limited selection of different foods) results in longer-term perception-specific satiety. By repeatedly eating similar meals, a dieter can reduce the total food intake and thus use it for weight loss purposes. On the other hand, perception-specific saturation can, conversely, also produce obesity, as this also arouses the appetite for a greater variety of foods. The higher the energy content of the food, the less likely it is that perception-specific satiety will be activated.

Age and perception-specific saturation

Perception-specific saturation varies depending on age, since older people experience a reduced level of it, but it occurs more frequently in young people. In a study that looked at age in relation to saturation, it was assumed that the degree of saturation is influenced by age, in particular by the gradual loss of cognitive ability in aging people. This hypothesis says that due to the increasing sensory deprivation and thus the loss of pleasant eating experiences, a more monotonous diet would arise. However, it could be shown that sensory deprivation did not have too great an influence on the decrease in perception-specific saturation - in fact, one suspects an undetected cognitive process behind this decrease, which may only be due to the generally reduced interest in change in old people compared to adolescents is due.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Raynor H, Epstein L. Dietary Variety, Energy Regulation, and Obesity. Psychological Bulletin 2001; 127: 325-341. Full text
  2. ↑ Le Magnen J. Hyperphagie provoquée chez le Rat blanc par alternation du mécanisme de satiété périphérique. Comptes Rendus des Séances de la Société de Biologie (Paris) 1956; 150 (1): 32-35.
  3. ^ Rolls BJ, Rolls ET, Rowe EA, Sweeney K. Sensory specific satiety in man. Physiol Behav. 1981; 27 (1): 137-42.
  4. ↑ Gray P. 2007. Psychology. Fifth Edition. Worth Publishers. contents
  5. ^ Raynor HA, Niemeier HM, Wing RR. Effect of limiting snack food variety on long-term sensory-specific satiety and monotony during obesity treatment. Eating Behaviors 2006; 7 (1): 1-14. doi : 10.1016 / j.eatbeh.2005.05.005
  6. ↑ Rolls BJ, Van Duijvenvoorde PM, Rowe EA. Variety in the diet enhances intake in a meal and contributes to the development of obesity in the rat. Physiology & Behavior 1983; 31 (1): 21-7. doi : 10.1016 / 0031-9384 (83) 90091-4
  7. ↑ a b c Rolls BJ, McDermott ™. Effect of age on sensory-specific satiety. Am J Clin Nutr 1991; 54 (6): 988-996. Abstract