Although humans understand that healthy food leads to better health, they sometimes impulsively prioritize taste and choose "delicious but unhealthy food" over "healthy but untasty food." In order to prioritize health over taste, we need "self-control" to prioritize the long-term benefit of health over the immediate benefit of taste.

　How does the human brain function when making food choices like this? In this study, we conducted an experiment to measure brain activity in humans when making health-conscious food choices.

　As a result, greater activity was observed in the prefrontal cortex when participants made a choice that prioritized health over taste (choosing a "healthy but untasty food" over a "tasty but unhealthy food").

　In addition, to investigate the relationship with "self-control," subjects were asked to perform a task to select a monetary reward and the strength of "self-control" was measured. For example, if subjects chose "5000 yen in a year" over "1 yen now," they were prioritizing long-term benefits over immediate benefits, which is considered to be strong self-control.

　When we analyzed the strength of self-control and brain activity, we found that people with stronger self-control showed greater activity in the prefrontal cortex when they prioritized health over deliciousness. These results suggest that when people prioritize health over food choices, the self-control mechanism in the prefrontal cortex, which prioritizes long-term benefits, plays an important role.

　Although food choices are made in other animal species, choosing food based on long-term benefits, such as prioritizing health, is unique to humans. The research group believes that self-control-related brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is the most developed part of the brain in humans, may be important for maintaining healthy eating habits.

Paper information:【Cerebral Cortex】Healthy dietary choices involve prefrontal mechanisms associated with long-term reward maximization but not working memory