Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat.
“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings,” says study coauthor Paul Johnson of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla.
It will be interesting to watch this research unfold. I worry about the the meaning of addiction as a brain disease being rendered meaningless by an ever-growing list of behaviors that are associated changes in the pleasure centers and dopamine production and response. I look forward to comparative research of these brain responses to better understand the differences.
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