Visual processing of food stimuli: The impact of working memory load and color

Abstract

Our environment is surrounded by appetizing food stimuli that contribute to an increase in health problems such as obesity and overweight. Understanding the cognitive factors underlying the processing of food stimuli can play an important role in health interventions. Recent studies showed that high-calorie food stimuli impair working memory (WM) task performance, and some individuals, such as restrained eaters, are more susceptible to this WM performance decrement. The present study investigated the effect of low and high WM load on the processing of food stimuli in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Using an n-back task, identical food (low and high calorie) and non-food (object) stimuli were presented in colored (Experiment 1A) or in grayscale (Experiment 1B) versions. Performance was assessed by reaction time (RT), d-prime, and response bias C variables. Results revealed differences in the different WM load conditions. While no effects were observed in the low load, higher WM load impaired task performance. Processing the food stimuli, compared to objects, led to longer RTs and decreased task performance, indicated by d prime and response bias, only when the stimuli were presented in color but not in grayscale. Though no difference was observed in restrained and unrestrained eaters, the role of WM load on the visual processing of the food stimuli remains to be further examined.