To our knowledge no study has assessed the effects of a meal on neural responses to food cues and compared this with a condition simulating natural inter-meal hunger levels. This is important, as the existing literature often compares the effect of fasting to satiation, which may not reflect typical appetite processes. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine the effect of a satiating lunch compared to a normal pre-meal state on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activity in the human brain, as measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

We hypothesized that satiation would be associated with decreased brain activity across brain regions involved in both appetite and reward such as ventromedial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum, hypothalamus, insula, amygdala and hippocampus. 16 healthy participants (8 males) were scanned on two separate test days, before and after eating a meal to satiation, or after not eating for 4 hours (satiated vs. pre-meal). fMRI BOLD signals to the sight and/or taste of the stimuli were recorded. Participants were given questionnaires to complete about their mood state and appetite before and after all scans.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy volunteers
• Sufficiently fluent in English to understand the task and the instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently taking medication
• Past or current depression/dieting,
• Smokers
• Food allergies
• Diabetes
• Pregnancy
• BMI score outside the normal range
• Any contraindications to fMRI scanning (e.g. pacemakers, mechanical heart valve, hip replacement, metal implants)