5. Conclusions
Our findings are among the first to demonstrate a relationship between sensation and perception of fat and sucrose and the reinforcing value of food in humans. Although previous work has suggested a link between taste functioning and food intake, our data extend these findings by proving evidence that the mechanism for increased energy intake in people with lower sensation and perception of sucrose and fat may be through increasing the reinforcing value of food. In addition,
we showed that perception of tastes that were restricted to the tongue and not swallowed was a better predictor than those arising from swallowed stimuli. This suggests that post-ingestive feedback from tastes may provide additional cues that regulate the reinforcing value of food in a different way than exposure to taste alone.
Future studies will examine the reinforcing value of food in individuals who have taste dysfunction.