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Food for thought: identifying dietary influences on decision making

Funding: 2023: $149,783
2024: $152,225
2025: $154,098

Project Member(s): Kendig, M., Bradfield, L.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC DECRA Scheme)
Australian Research Council (ARC DECRA Scheme)

Start year: 2023

Summary: Cues that signal food are abundant in the surrounding environment, yet their ability to stimulate food consumption remains poorly understood. This project seeks to identify how food cues influence decision-making processes in the presence of food cues. It will also test how dietary habits alter responding to food cues, and explore the underlying neural mechanisms of these effects. Sophisticated behavioural neuroscience techniques will be employed in a validated rodent model of the modern diet. Expected outcomes include new interdisciplinary knowledge identifying how nutritional choices influence cognition and the brain. The project should provide fundamental knowledge to benefit individual and public health.

FOR Codes: Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences, Behavioural neuroscience, Nutritional science, Expanding knowledge in psychology