Publicity Incorporation
Neuroconsult e.U. was mandated by an Austrian based Publicity Incorporation in order to improve the quality of a particular magazine. The focus was related to visual and olfactory information processing.
Essentiell and Euphonix
News from the
Eskimo/Unilever Austria GmbH
In cooperation with Prof. Herbert Bauer (head of the Biological Psychology Unit at the Vienna University) the latest study conducted for the frozen food company "Eskimo" revealed scientific data to confirm that eating ice cream positively enhances mood in humans. In contrast to other research strategies our approach is to objectively measure neural functions in the human brain instaed of using questionnaires. In particular, the emoscope of three different kinds of food, ice cream, chocolate and yoghurt compared to no food was created. The methodological approach to create the emoscope was a specially applied so called startle reflex modulation experiment. The human eye blink as an automatic response to loud acoustic noise represents one form of such a startle reflex. It can be measured and quantified by using so called electromyography (EMG). The principle background is that such a reflex is inhibited in relation to a positive emotional state whereas a negative emotional state facilitates it. While eating all three kinds of food and while eating nothing loud acoustic noise was presented to study participants volunteering for this investigation. We measured muscle potentials of the musculus orbicularis oculi associated to eye blinks produced by our startle stimuli and found that across gender ice cream was associated with the lowest response amplitude (see diagram). Our scientific interpretation is that while eating ice cream the emotional state of our study participants was more positive compared to eating the other kinds of food provided in our study.
Frontal activities reflecting reward related human brain functions during the consumption of ice cream! (Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography after Pascual-Marqui 1994)