Next time you find it hard to resist eating another mouthful of chocolate, you might be interested to know what’s going on inside your head.
New U.S. research has shown the compulsion to overeat is linked to an opium-like chemical called enkephalin naturally produced inside part of the brain, which could also be a factor in binge eating and drug addiction.
“This means that the brain has more extensive systems to make individuals want to overconsume rewards than previously thought,” said study co-author Alexandra DiFeliceantonio at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in a press release.
“It may be one reason why over-consumption is a problem today.”
The researchers studied the effect of stimulating this part of the brain—the neostriatum—in rats and found that these animals ate more than twice as many milk chocolate M&Ms than normal. Similarly, the amount of enkephalin produced by that part of the brain went up when the rats began eating the candies.
The neostriatum has previously been associated with movement, but chemicals produced here increase the desire for treats like chocolate.
“The same brain area we tested here is active when obese people see foods and when drug addicts see drug scenes,” DiFeliceantonio said.
“It seems likely that our enkephalin findings in rats mean that this neurotransmitter may drive some forms of overconsumption and addiction in people.”
The results were published in Current Biology on Sept. 20.
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