Framework to identify food selectivity origins in the brain

Human evolution has revolved around food, from identifying and foraging for it to growing and preparing it. Researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex that responds to food and have developed a theoretical framework that could explain the origins of this selectivity. The team outlines how visual and nonvisual signals contribute to the brain's cortical responses when people were shown images of food. Researchers also found that images of food in context elicited additional responses in the brain, as compared to images without context. One explanation for this finding is that seeing these objects in their natural context might invoke the varied experiences of interacting with food or other information related to identifying food as just that: food. For example, signals that could influence food selectivity in the visual cortex include color, social cues or the motor actions of eating.

Human evolution has revolved around food, from identifying and foraging for it to growing and preparing it. Researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex that responds to food and have developed a theoretical framework that could explain the origins of this selectivity. The team outlines how visual and nonvisual signals contribute to the brain's cortical responses when people were shown images of food. Researchers also found that images of food in context elicited additional responses in the brain, as compared to images without context. One explanation for this finding is that seeing these objects in their natural context might invoke the varied experiences of interacting with food or other information related to identifying food as just that: food. For example, signals that could influence food selectivity in the visual cortex include color, social cues or the motor actions of eating.

Read more https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250220164352.htm