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Why do some people have compulsive eating problems while the rest of us limit our binges to the occasional Domino’s run? It could be the way our brains our wired, say researchers at the Energy Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.
The researchers tempted obese subjects by giving them a whiff of their favorite foods and a small taste of the treat—while scanning the participants’ brains with positron emission tomography, or PET.
In the 10 subjects who were clinically diagnosed binge eaters, food significantly increased dopamine levels in the caudate region of the brain—the area associated with pleasure and reward—says lead author Gene-Jack Wang, M.D. Even more telling, binge eaters with the worst symptoms had the highest spike in dopamine levels. (Obese subjects who weren’t binge eaters saw only a slight spike in the neurotransmitter.)
Specifically, the caudate region primes drug addicts for pleasure when a cue is in front of them, Wang explains. So in binge eaters, food truly does appear to act like a drug. It still isn’t clear, though, whether compulsive eating causes brain changes or if bingers are wired differently to begin with. Just because you down the occasional bag of Doritos doesn’t classify you as a binge eater, says Wang. But, he adds, you don’t have to be obese to be diagnosed. To combat binge eating, simple lifestyle changes like increasing physical activity can help. Wang explains it’s been shown that aerobic exercise improves cognitive function and inhibition control, which could help moderate the increased dopamine release binge eaters have from food.
The researchers tempted obese subjects by giving them a whiff of their favorite foods and a small taste of the treat—while scanning the participants’ brains with positron emission tomography, or PET.
In the 10 subjects who were clinically diagnosed binge eaters, food significantly increased dopamine levels in the caudate region of the brain—the area associated with pleasure and reward—says lead author Gene-Jack Wang, M.D. Even more telling, binge eaters with the worst symptoms had the highest spike in dopamine levels. (Obese subjects who weren’t binge eaters saw only a slight spike in the neurotransmitter.)
Specifically, the caudate region primes drug addicts for pleasure when a cue is in front of them, Wang explains. So in binge eaters, food truly does appear to act like a drug. It still isn’t clear, though, whether compulsive eating causes brain changes or if bingers are wired differently to begin with. Just because you down the occasional bag of Doritos doesn’t classify you as a binge eater, says Wang. But, he adds, you don’t have to be obese to be diagnosed. To combat binge eating, simple lifestyle changes like increasing physical activity can help. Wang explains it’s been shown that aerobic exercise improves cognitive function and inhibition control, which could help moderate the increased dopamine release binge eaters have from food.
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