New clues about pain and food in the brain

Finding pleasure in food comes from how our brains respond to what we eat
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In this study, researchers looked at how the brain responds to sugar and fat

"Remarkably, this change in food preferences did not change their caloric intake," said Gerha, lead author of a previous study published in the journal Pain, the most recent study based on this research
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"These findings suggest that obesity in people with chronic pain may not be due to lack of exercise, but rather that they change their diet

Brain scans of study participants showed that the nucleus accumbens — a small area of ​​the brain known primarily for its decision-making role — may provide clues about who might experience long-term changes in eating behavior

Other authors include Dr.
Ye Zhe Lin and Dr.
Galsina Stanley of the University of Rochester, Dr.
Ivan de Araujo of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Dr.
Dana Small of Yale University
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The research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Journal Reference :

1. Yezhe Lin, Ivan De Araujo, Gelsina Stanley, Dana Small, Paul Geha.