Search results for "Alimentation et Nutrition"
showing 10 items of 118 documents
Early-blind individuals show impaired performance in wine odor categorization
2018
International audience; Blind individuals display superior sensory abilities in other modalities, yet results remain contradictory regarding their performance on olfactory tasks. Using complex ecological olfactory tasks, we evaluated the impact of blindness on olfactory performance. We tested 12 early-blind individuals (M = 49, SD = 13.09) and 12 sighted controls (M = 49, SD = 14.31) who were all blindfolded. Based solely on the wine odors, participants evaluated 24 pairs of wine and determined if both samples belonged to the same category (red wine, white wine, or rosé wine) or not (odor categorization), and if so, whether they were identical or not (odor differentiation). Then, they had t…
Evidence for different patterns of chemosensory alterations in the elderly population: impact of age versus dependency
2015
The present experiment aimed to explore the interindividual variability in chemosensory abilities among the elderly population. The chemosensory abilities of 559 subjects, aged from 65 to 99 years, were evaluated. Various categories of the elderly, including people who were living at home either without or with assistance, and people who were living in a nursing home, were interviewed. The results revealed that 43% of the sample presented well-preserved chemosensory abilities, whereas 21% of the participants presented a moderate impairment. Of the sample, 33% presented well-preserved olfactory abilities but strong impairment in gustatory abilities and 3% were nearly anosmic but remained abl…
Learning to Eat Vegetables in Early Life: The Role of Timing, Age and Individual Eating Traits
2014
Vegetable intake is generally low among children, who appear to be especially fussy during the pre-school years. Repeated exposure is known to enhance intake of a novel vegetable in early life but individual differences in response to familiarisation have emerged from recent studies. In order to understand the factors which predict different responses to repeated exposure, data from the same experiment conducted in three groups of children from three countries (n = 332) aged 4-38 m (18.9 +/- 9.9 m) were combined and modelled. During the intervention period each child was given between 5 and 10 exposures to a novel vegetable (artichoke puree) in one of three versions (basic, sweet or added e…
Hypothalamic eIF2 alpha signaling regulates food intake
2014
International audience; The reversible phosphorylation of the a subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2 alpha) is a highly conserved signal implicated in the cellular adaptation to numerous stresses such as the one caused by amino acid limitation. In response to dietary amino acid deficiency, the brain-specific activation of the eIF2 alpha kinase GCN2 leads to food intake inhibition. We report here that GCN2 is rapidly activated in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) after consumption of a leucine-deficient diet. Furthermore, knockdown of GCN2 in this particular area shows that MBH GCN2 activity controls the onset of the aversive response. Importantly, pharmacological experiments demo…
Whey proteins are more efficient than casein in the recovery of muscle functional properties following a casting induced muscle atrophy.
2013
International audience; The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of whey supplementation, as compared to the standard casein diet, on the recovery of muscle functional properties after a casting-induced immobilization period. After an initial (I0) evaluation of the contractile properties of the plantarflexors (isometric torque-frequency relationship, concentric power-velocity relationship and a fatigability test), the ankle of 20 male adult rats was immobilized by casting for 8 days. During this period, rats were fed a standard diet with 13% of casein (CAS). After cast removal, rats received either the same diet or a diet with 13% of whey proteins (WHEY). A control group (n =…
Transient and Permanent Experience with Fatty Acids Changes Drosophila melanogaster Preference and Fitness
2013
Food and host-preference relies on genetic adaptation and sensory experience. In vertebrates, experience with food-related cues during early development can change adult preference. This is also true in holometabolous insects, which undergo a drastic nervous system remodelling during their complete metamorphosis, but remains uncertain in Drosophila melanogaster. We have conditioned D. melanogaster with oleic (C18:1) and stearic (C18:0) acids, two common dietary fatty acids, respectively preferred by larvae and adult. Wild-type individuals exposed either during a transient period of development-from embryo to adult-or more permanently-during one to ten generation cycles-were affected by such…
Involvement of plasmalogens in post-natal retinal vascular development
2014
Objective: Proper development of retinal blood vessels is essential to ensure sufficient oxygen and nutrient supplies to the retina. It was shown that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could modulate factors involved in tissue vascularization. A congenital deficiency in ether-phospholipids, also termed "plasmalogens'', was shown to lead to abnormal ocular vascularization. Because plasmalogens are considered to be reservoirs of PUFAs, we wished to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which plasmalogens regulate retinal vascular development and whether the release of PUFAs by calcium-independent phospholipase A2 (iPLA2) could be involved. [br/] Methods and Results: By characterizi…
Cross-cultural differences in consumer quality perception of rice
2014
International audience; Most aspects of food product quality perception are culture-bound. We present a cross-cultural study aiming at understandinghow consumers from four countries (French, Japanese, Korean and Thai) perceive, describe and appreciate rice and ricequality. Marked differences were found in participants' motivation to consume rice: sensory and commodity in France; sensoryand health in Japan; nutrition and commodity in Thailand; and nutrition, health and safety in Korea. For the description of ricequalities, despite a few cultural differences, especially between Korean and Thai descriptions of white and brown rice samples,similar sensory profiles were obtained in the four coun…
Retro-nasal aroma release is correlated with variations in the in-mouth air cavity volume after empty deglutition.
2012
International audience; We hypothesized that interindividual differences in motor activities during chewing and/or swallowing were determining factors for the transfer of volatile aroma from the in-mouth air cavity (IMAC) toward the olfactory mucosa. In our first experiment, we looked for changes in IMAC volume after saliva deglutition in 12 healthy subjects. The mean IMAC volume was measured after empty deglutition using an acoustic pharyngometer device. Based on the time course of the IMAC volume after swallowing, we discerned two groups of subjects. The first group displayed a small, constant IMAC volume (2.26 mL ±0.62) that corresponded to a high tongue position. The second group displa…
Perceptual blending in odor mixtures depends on the nature of odorants and human olfactory expertise.
2012
International audience; Our olfactory system is confronted with complex mixtures of odorants, often recognized as single entities due to odor blending (e.g., coffee). In contrast, we are also able to discriminate odors from complex mixtures (e.g., off-odors). Therefore, the olfactory system is able to engage either configural or elemental processes when confronted with mixtures. However, the rules that govern the involvement of these processes during odor perception remain poorly understood. In our first experiment, we examined whether simple odorant mixtures (binary/ternary) could elicit configural perception. Twenty untrained subjects were asked to evaluate the odor typicality of mixtures…