The Physiological Effects of Anticipation In Regards to Sour Taste Experience

Abstract

After consuming sour food, the body's response is to produce saliva in order to neutralize the acidity. The physiological response of increased saliva production in response to sour taste is accomplished by increased muscle contraction and salivary gland activity. Additionally, increased heart rate and sweat production is observed when subjects are administered a sour stimulus. In this experiment, the feedforward response to sour food was tested by feeding participants Warheads Sour Candy. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the responses between eating a sour candy and the anticipation of eating one were similar. Participants were unknowingly given a Warhead and then their physiological responses (electromyography, galvanic skin response, heart rate) were recorded. They were then presented with a second Warhead to measure their anticipatory (feedforward) response. The results of this study showed statistical significance for heart rate between anticipation and stimulation. There was no significance observed for galvanic skin response (GSR) and electromyography (EMG). Our hypothesis was not fully proven, thus further studies will be needed to more definitively explain the physiological effects of sour food and possible feedforward mechanism involved.