Sensation and perception of sucrose and fat stimuli predict the reinforcing value of food.

Chronic overeating can lead to weight gain and obesity. Sensory system function may play a role in the types of foods people select and the amount of food people eat. Several studies have shown that the orosensory components of eating play a strong role in driving food intake and food selection.

Effects of acute caffeine administration on adolescents.

Acute caffeine administration has physiological, behavioral, and subjective effects. Despite its widespread use, few studies have described the impact of caffeine consumption in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute caffeine administration in adolescents.

Effects of daily snack food intake on food reinforcement depend on body mass index and energy density.

Background: The reinforcing value of food plays a role in food consumption. We have shown previously that daily intake of a high-energy-density (HED) snack food decreases food reinforcement and food liking in nonobese women but increases food reinforcement and decreases food liking in obese women.

Objective: These previous studies were conducted with the use of only HED snack foods.

Sex differences in reinforcing value of caffeinated beverages in adolescents.

Caffeine use is increasing among children and adolescents, but the effects of caffeine use on behavior and physiology within this population remain understudied and poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that adolescents find caffeinated soda more reinforcing than noncaffeinated soda and that this would be related to the level of usual caffeine consumption and to sex. We measured operant responding for portions of caffeinated and noncaffeinated soda at baseline and after daily consumption of 32 oz of caffeinated and noncaffeinated soda for 1 week each in 12-17-year-old participants.