Cross-cultural studies suggest that people typically prefer to eat familiar foods
from their own culture rather than foreign foods from other cultures. On
this basis, it is plausible that neural responsiveness elicited by palatable food
images from one’s own culture differ from those elicited by food depictions
from other cultures. Toward clarifying this issue, we examined neural
activation and self-report responses to indigenous (Chinese) versus Western
food images among young Chinese adults. Participants (33 women, 33 men)
viewed Chinese food, Western food and furniture control images during a
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan and then rated the images
on “liking,” “wanting,” and “difficult resisting.” Analyses indicated there were no
significant differences in self-report ratings of Chinese versus Western food
images. However, Chinese food images elicited stronger activation in regions
linked to cravings, taste perception, attention, reward, and visual processing
(i.e., cerebellum crus, superior temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, middle
temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, posterior insula, middle occipital gyrus;
inferior occipital gyrus). Conversely, Western food images elicited stronger
activation in areas involved in visual object recognition and visual processing
(inferior temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, calcarine). These findings
underscored culture as a potentially important influence on neural responses
to visual food cues and raised concerns about the ecological validity of using
“standard” Western food images in neuroimaging studies of non-Western
samples. Results also provide foundations for designing culturally informed
research and intervention approaches in non-Westerns contexts guided by
the use of external food cues that are most salient to the cultural group
under study.