From Anorexia To Obesity And Everything In Between
The brains of people with anorexia and obesity are wired differently, according to new research. Neuroscientists for the first time have found that how our brains respond to food differs across a spectrum of eating behaviors - from extreme overeating to food deprivation. This study is one of several new approaches to help better understand and ultimately treat eating disorders and obesity.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. And more than two-thirds of the U.S. population are overweight or obese - a health factor associated with cardiovascular issues, diabetes, and cancer. "This body of work not only increases our understanding of the relationship between food and brain function but can also inform weight loss programs," says Laura Martin of Hoglund Brain Imaging Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, one of several researchers whose work presented at a meeting of cognitive neuroscientists in Chicago.
"Our findings provide evidence of an overall continuum relating food intake behavior and weight outcomes to food reward circuitry activity," Holsen says. Her work also has implications, she says, for everyday eating decisions in healthy individuals. "Even in individuals who do not have eating disorders, there are areas of the brain that assist in evaluating the reward value of different foods, which in turn plays a role in the decisions we make about which foods to eat."
