RESEARCH: Your brain on a Big Mac: Kids turned on by fast-food logos

[Frank W. Baker]

 Purveyors of fast food such as McDonald's try to make impression on young consumers. And a new study of kids' brains shows that it's working.

Researchers at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center did MRI scans of kids' noggins while showing them assorted corporate logos.

Turns out that when a logo for a fast-food chain comes up — the golden arches, say — the pleasure centers of kids' brains light up, showing tha a connection is being made to something considered a treat or a reward.

A similar effect is nowhere to be found when logos for non-food brands are flashed.

 

[Ryan Goble]

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