TY - JOUR
T1 - Wired for harsh food environments
T2 - Human spatial memory favours the effortless location and consumption of high-calorie foods
AU - de Vries, Rachelle
AU - Boesveldt, Sanne
AU - Sotomayor Sainz, Alejandra
AU - Copier, Joyce
AU - de Vet, Emely
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Human memory automatically prioritises locations of high-calorie foods, likely reflecting an adaptation for foraging in harsh ancestral food environments. We investigated whether this high-calorie bias in human spatial memory yields unhealthy obesogenic implications for individual eating behaviour in present-day food-abundant settings. In an online study, we tested the food spatial memory of a diverse sample of 405 individuals, as well as examined associations between the high-calorie spatial memory bias and the self-reported routine frequency of high-calorie snack consumption, exposure to high-calorie food environments, and BMI of a subset of 316 individuals. The high-calorie spatial memory bias was not directly associated with high-calorie snack consumption frequency or BMI. However, a greater expression of the bias indirectly predicted a higher BMI, by mediating a stronger habit of purchasing high-calorie snack foods. Although individuals from various sociodemographic groups expressed the high-calorie bias in spatial memory, our results suggest that those with a better inhibitory control to high-calorie foods were protected from bias-related tendencies to frequent high-calorie food environments (e.g. fast-food outlets).
AB - Human memory automatically prioritises locations of high-calorie foods, likely reflecting an adaptation for foraging in harsh ancestral food environments. We investigated whether this high-calorie bias in human spatial memory yields unhealthy obesogenic implications for individual eating behaviour in present-day food-abundant settings. In an online study, we tested the food spatial memory of a diverse sample of 405 individuals, as well as examined associations between the high-calorie spatial memory bias and the self-reported routine frequency of high-calorie snack consumption, exposure to high-calorie food environments, and BMI of a subset of 316 individuals. The high-calorie spatial memory bias was not directly associated with high-calorie snack consumption frequency or BMI. However, a greater expression of the bias indirectly predicted a higher BMI, by mediating a stronger habit of purchasing high-calorie snack foods. Although individuals from various sociodemographic groups expressed the high-calorie bias in spatial memory, our results suggest that those with a better inhibitory control to high-calorie foods were protected from bias-related tendencies to frequent high-calorie food environments (e.g. fast-food outlets).
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104478
DO - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104478
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-3293
VL - 97
JO - Food Quality and Preference
JF - Food Quality and Preference
M1 - 104478
ER -