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Subliminal fear priming potentiates negative facial reactions to food pictures in women with anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2009

R. Soussignan ,
T. Jiang ,
D. Rigaud ,
J. P. Royet  and
B. Schaal
R. Soussignan*
Affiliation:
Centre Européen des Sciences du GoÛt, CNRS (UMR 5170), Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
T. Jiang
Affiliation:
Centre Européen des Sciences du GoÛt, CNRS (UMR 5170), Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
D. Rigaud
Affiliation:
Centre Européen des Sciences du GoÛt, CNRS (UMR 5170), Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
J. P. Royet
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Neurosciences Sensorielles, Comportement, Cognition, CNRS (UMR 5020), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France
B. Schaal
Affiliation:
Centre Européen des Sciences du GoÛt, CNRS (UMR 5170), Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr R. Soussignan, Centre Européen des Sciences du GoÛt, CNRS, 15 rue Picardet, 21000Dijon, France. (Email: soussignan@cesg.cnrs.fr)
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Abstract

Background

To investigate hedonic reactivity and the influence of unconscious emotional processes on the low sensitivity to positive reinforcement of food in anorexia nervosa (AN).

Method

AN and healthy women were exposed to palatable food pictures just after a subliminal exposure to facial expressions (happy, disgust, fear and neutral faces), either while fasting or after a standardized meal (hunger versus satiety). Both implicit [facial electromyographic (EMG) activity from zygomatic and corrugator muscles, skin conductance, heart rate, and videotaped facial behavior] and explicit (self-reported pleasure and desire) measures of affective processes were recorded.

Results

In contrast to healthy women, the AN patients did not display objective and subjective indices of pleasure to food pictures when they were in the hunger states. Pleasure to food cues (liking) was more affected than the desire to eat (wanting) in AN patients. Subliminal ‘fear faces’ increased corrugator muscle reactivity to food stimuli in fasting AN patients, as compared to controls.

Conclusions

The results suggest that unconscious fear cues increase the negative appraisal of alimentary stimuli in AN patients and thus contribute to decreased energy intake.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosaemotionfacial electromyographyfacial expressionsfearlikingpleasureunconscious processwanting
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , March 2010 , pp. 503 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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