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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Etude du contrôle hédonique de la prise alimentaire par l'analyse des potentiels évoqués gustatifs

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description

Hedonic control of food intake has been studied using neurophysiological investigations in animals and functional imaging in humans. Gustatory evoked potentials (GEPs), a higher time resolution technique than functional imaging, have never been used for this purpose. The first aim of this thesis was to establish a reliable recording of GEPs in humans, in response to a sapid stimulus. The second aim was to determine the GEPs modifications according to the hedonic value of food intake. GEPs recording was performed in response to an intermittent stimulation of a sapid solution in more than 100 young healthy subjects. The comparisons between cerebral recordings in response to water or paraffin oil, non palatable solutions, and in response to sapid solutions (sucrose, sodium chlorure and fatty acids) allow us to advance strong arguments for the gustative nature of the recorded evoked potentials. GEPs analysis underlined changes in cerebral activation according to the hedonic value of the stimulus. These changes in cerebral activation were highlighted by modifications of GEPs latency or amplitude. Several physiological situations, marked by different pleasantness of food stimulation, were studied: before/after food intake, stimulation by sweet solutions with different concentrations or different caloric contents, stimulation by fatty acids. Moreover, GEPs in response to long chain fatty acids (linoleic acids) were recorded, reinforcing the hypothesis that fatty acids could be the sixth primary flavor.