Is Being Fat In Our Brain?

The fact that some of us have a tough time losing weight and have an overweight tendency may have less to do with what we eat, and more to do with how our brain works. That’s the implication from new research into the brain systems involved in food reward and addictive behaviors.

By studying obese rats, Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) have demonstrated a link between a predisposition to obesity and defective dopamine signaling. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger in the brain which mediates emotion and pleasure. The release of dopamine is traditionally associated with euphoria and considered to be the major neurochemical signature of drug addiction. Researchers found that dopamine levels were 50 percent lower in the brain reward systems of obesity-prone rats. Emmanuel Pothos, PhD, one of the researchers involved in the study, explained that, “increased food intake may represent a compensatory attempt to restore baseline dopamine levels.”

“These findings have important implications in our understanding of the obesity epidemic.,” Pothos said. “The notion that decreased dopamine signaling leads to increased feeding is compatible with the finding from human studies that obese individuals have reduced central dopamine receptors.” He speculates that a reduced dopamine signal may interfere with satiation, leading to overeating. According to Gerald Weissmann, MD, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal, “Now we know why so many people stay addicted to food: it fuels the mid-brain pleasure machinery. “

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