Stress increases cue-triggered "wanting" for sweet reward in humans.
Stress can increase reward pursuits: This has traditionally been seen as an attempt to relieve negative affect through the hedonic properties of a reward. However, reward pursuit is not always proportional to the pleasure experienced, because reward processing involves distinct components, including the motivation to obtain a reward (i.e., wanting) and the hedonic pleasure during the reward consumption (i.e., liking). Research conducted on rodents demonstrates that stress might directly amplify the cue-triggered wanting, suggesting that under stress wanting can be independent from liking. Here, we aimed to test whether a similar mechanism exists in humans. We used analog of a Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer test (PIT) with an olfactory reward to measure the cue triggered wanting for a reward but also the sensory hedonic liking felt during the consumption of the same reward. The analog of a PIT procedure, in which participants learned to associate a neutral image and an instrumental action with a chocolate odor, was combined with either a stress-inducing or stress-free behavioral procedure. Results showed that compared with participants in the stress-free condition, those in the stress condition mobilized more effort in instrumental action when the reward-associated cue was displayed, even though they did not report the reward as being more pleasurable. These findings suggest that, in humans, stress selectively increases cue-triggered wanting, independently of the hedonic properties of the reward. Such a mechanism supports the novel explanation proposed by animal research as to why stress often produces cue-triggered bursts of binge eating, relapses in drug addiction, or gambling.
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva-CISA.
Eva
E
Pool
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva-CISA.
Tobias
T
Brosch
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva-CISA.
Sylvain
S
Delplanque
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva-CISA.
David
D
Sander
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002182:Candy; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D009812:Odorants; D012201:Reward; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D064232:Visual Analog Scale; D055815:Young Adult
D013549:Sweetening Agents