04.05.11
A new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that seeing certain foods, like a milkshake, activates the same brain regions implicated in substance dependence.
“Similar patterns of neural activation are implicated in addictive-like eating behavior and substance dependence: elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues and reduced activation of inhibitory regions in response to food intake,” authors concluded.
Looking to test the hypothesis that elevated "food addiction" scores are associated with similar patterns of neural activation as substance dependence, researchers evaluated 48 healthy young women ranging from lean to obese in a healthy weight maintenance trial that utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The study evaluated the relation between elevated food addiction scores and blood oxygen level–dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in response to receipt and anticipated receipt of palatable food (chocolate milkshake).
Food addiction scores (N = 39) correlated with greater activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala in response to anticipated receipt of food. Participants with higher (n = 15) vs. lower (n = 11) food addiction scores showed greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the caudate in response to anticipated receipt of food but less activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in response to receipt of food.
“Similar patterns of neural activation are implicated in addictive-like eating behavior and substance dependence: elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues and reduced activation of inhibitory regions in response to food intake,” authors concluded.
Looking to test the hypothesis that elevated "food addiction" scores are associated with similar patterns of neural activation as substance dependence, researchers evaluated 48 healthy young women ranging from lean to obese in a healthy weight maintenance trial that utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The study evaluated the relation between elevated food addiction scores and blood oxygen level–dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in response to receipt and anticipated receipt of palatable food (chocolate milkshake).
Food addiction scores (N = 39) correlated with greater activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala in response to anticipated receipt of food. Participants with higher (n = 15) vs. lower (n = 11) food addiction scores showed greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the caudate in response to anticipated receipt of food but less activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in response to receipt of food.