This talk forms a part of a larger symposium led by Dr. Janina Seubert and Dr Maria G. Veldhuizen, titled Acquisition and modification of flavor preferences.

A growing body of animal and human research suggests MTL function (of which the hippocampus is a part of) plays an important role in shaping food intake, preferences and learning of hunger signals. This talk will discuss recent findings from human research led by Professor Richard Stevenson, which suggest that impairments to MTL function, from western style diet consumption - i.e., diets high in saturated fats, added sugars and salts - may impair one's ability to learn their hunger signals, and consequently, promote intake of obesogenic foods. The main findings that will be discussed are as follow: (1) poorer hippocampal performance (memory) as measured by neuropsychological tests, are related to increased intake of western style diets ; (2) The change in how much one wants a food (relative to liking), following meal consumption, is predicted best by individuals ability to anticipate how filling a food may be (a process reliant on memory); and (3) interoceptive cues of hunger are more common between offspring’s and their parents, relative to non-related parents, further supporting the role of memory based processes (and MTL function) in hunger.