Brain circuitry is different for women with anorexia and obesity Full Text
EurekAlert!, 05/15/2012
Why does one person become anorexic and another obese? A study shows that reward circuits in the brain are sensitized in anorexic women and desensitized in obese women. The findings also suggest that eating behavior is related to brain dopamine pathways involved in addictions. The authors found that during these fMRI sessions, an unexpected sweet–tasting solution resulted in increased neural activation of reward systems in the anorexic patients and diminished activation in obese individuals. In rodents, food restriction and weight loss have been associated with greater dopamine–related reward responses in the brain.
