Addicted to food?

Increasing evidence suggests that food and drugs both trigger a sense of well-being by activating the reward circuitry of the brain. This has led to a debate over whether to include “pathological” overeating as a brain disorder in the upcoming version of the psychiatric diagnostic manual, the DSM-V. 

In this latest briefing paper released by the News Office, scientists discuss parallel behavior between compulsive eaters and drug addicts, how gender affects eating impulses, and how the evolutionary instinct to “see food, eat food” may contribute to overeating.