A figurative measure of subjective hunger sensations

In an attempt to better characterize the subjective experience of hunger, w e assessed the locus and extent of sensations associated with varying degre es of hunger. In the first study, 83 subjects indicated by marking on a dra wing of a human figure where they felt hungry under hypothetical conditions of slight to extreme hunger. Approximately 55% of subjects indicated an ab dominal locus with slight hunger, a proportion which increased somewhat wit h increasing levels of imagined hunger. The proportion of subjects indicati ng other or additional body sites grew significantly with increasing hunger states; for example, those identifying the head region increased from abou t 10-35%. In a second study, 14 subjects were fasted for 22 h and then refe d. Using the drawn figures, they outlined body areas where they experienced hunger during and after fasting. The size of the abdominal area and the to tal body area associated with hunger sensations expanded with increasing fo od deprivation and contracted after refeeding. The size of the area of hung er sensation did not necessarily correlate with the degree of hunger as ass essed by standard rating scales. The results indicate that the extent and l ocus of hunger sensations vary with fasting and feeding, and suggest that t he site and size of the body areas associated with hunger sensations may pr ovide qualitative and quantitative measures of the subjective experience of hunger not captured by analogue rating scales. (C) 1999 Academic Press.