Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium - Jessica Werthmann

Feast your eyes – Food-related attention and eating behaviour

Visual attention allocation is a key mechanism to filter goal relevant information thereby biasing perception of our environment. This so called “attention bias” may contribute to unhealthy decisions and behaviours. In the context of eating behaviour and body weight, an attention bias for food could be a cognitive factor contributing to overeating and weight gain. In my talk, I will review the empirical evidence for the role of food-related attention for eating behaviour and body weight. My focus lies on elucidating methodological challenges when measuring attention bias for food cues and on highlighting potential clinical applications of this research.

Keywords: Attention bias, Eye-tracking, Eating Behaviour, Obesity, Eating Disorders