This means they experience cravings differently

Sep 1, 2015 17:26 GMT  ·  By

Having carried out a series of experiments with the help of volunteers, a team of researchers with the University of Granada in Spain and Australia's Monash University found evidence that the brains of obese individuals respond differently to food. 

This means that, when compared to people of a normal weight, they experience cravings differently. In turn, this might explain why, although addressing obesity has for some time now been a health priority, the number of overweight people in the world seems to be on the rise.

Thus, the research team behind this investigation posit that the reason efforts to curb obesity rates have so far failed to yield any noteworthy results is that the brain mechanisms controlling the desire to eat are yet to be fully understood and explained.

The specialists, led by researcher Oren Contreras-Rodríguez, presented their findings during a recent conference of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Brain activity patterns can predict weight gain

To study how brain activity correlates with obesity, the research team first invited 39 obese and 42 normal-weight individuals to lunch. They presented them with a buffet and let them eat as much as they wanted to.

Then, they placed them in MRI brain scanners and showed them photos of the same food they had just enjoyed, looking to determine how their brains reacted to the dishes.

It was discovered that, when looking at the photos, the brains of the obese study participants responded differently in that the craving was associated with greater connectivity between the dorsal caudate and the somatosensory cortex.

By comparison, the brains of the normal-weight volunteers displayed greater connectivity between other regions. i.e. the ventral putamen and the orbitofrontal cortex.

Some time after these experiments, the study participants were put on a scale and the scientists found that they could predict weight gain based on which brain regions reacted to the food images.

The research team argues that their findings go to show that, when compared to normal-weight people, those struggling with obesity might have the desire to eat hard-wired into their brain.

How cravings are kind of like substance addiction

Of the brain areas that displayed greater connectivity in response to food in the case of the obese study participants, the dorsal caudate has previously been shown to be involved in reward-based habits.

Hence, the specialists behind this investigation propose that, although further experiments are needed to confirm this, it might be that, for obese individuals, cravings are kind of, sort of like substance addiction. In turn, this could make them harder to control.

“There is an ongoing controversy over whether obesity can be called a ‘food addiction,’ but in fact there is very little research which shows whether or not this might be true,” said study leader Oren Contreras-Rodríguez in an interview.

“The findings in our study support the idea that the reward processing following food stimuli in obesity is associated with neural changes similar to those found in substance addiction,” the scientist added.

Then again, if it is true that obesity correlates with distinct brain activity patterns in response to food, this means brain stimulation techniques and medication targeting the brain might help control food intake and help people lose weight.