"You Say it's Liking, I Say it's Wanting …". On the difficulty of disentangling food reward in man.

According to the influential theory of Berridge (1996, 2009), food reward comprises two components: food 'liking' and 'wanting', with 'liking' referring to the pleasure derived from eating a given food and 'wanting' referring to appetitive motivation. Animal research shows that these two components have separate neural correlates. In examining reward driven eating in man, researchers have thus begun to develop interest in indicators of 'liking' and 'wanting'. But validating 'liking' and 'wanting' requires the dissociation of these components when theory dictates they should diverge. One such circumstance is neural sensitization as this leads to exaggerated 'wanting' without increased 'liking'. However, there are no data suggesting that such sensitization is the likely result of (over)eating. Without sensitization, one cannot determine whether task performance is indicative of true food 'liking' or 'wanting'. It is concluded that it is important to assess appetite and palatability in the study of reward driven eating, but determining whether these measurements reflect either food 'wanting' or food 'liking' is not.

Havermans RC 《-》

Is it possible to dissociate 'liking' and 'wanting' for foods in humans? A novel experimental procedure.

Finlayson G ，King N ，Blundell JE 《PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR》

Eating what you like induces a stronger decrease of 'wanting' to eat.

Lemmens SG ，Schoffelen PF ，Wouters L ，Born JM ，Martens MJ ，Rutters F ，Westerterp-Plantenga MS ... -  《-》

Current progress in the assessment of 'liking' vs. 'wanting' food in human appetite. Comment on '"You say it's liking, i say it's wanting...". On the difficulty of disentangling food reward in man'.

Studies that make use of separate measures to capture 'liking' and 'wanting' components of food reward signal a paradigm shift in research on hedonic (over)eating in man. In a recent review, Havermans (2011) highlighted some key methodological and theoretical challenges faced by those working on this issue. Unfortunately, this selective reading of the recent literature in the field presents a skewed picture; but it should not dampen the building momentum. On the other hand the paper is a timely call for researchers to clarify some of the neological confusion that has inevitably been generated along the way. In this response to Havermans (2011), we offer a more robust review of current progress in the assessment of 'liking' vs. 'wanting' food in human appetite. The evidence supports important theoretical and practical implications for a dual-process account of food reward; the developing nature of the research means the majority of these remain tantalisingly unexplored.

Finlayson G ，Dalton M 《-》

Opioid reward 'liking' and 'wanting' in the nucleus accumbens.

Peciña S 《PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR》