This article reviews current research and cross-disciplinary perspectives on the neuroscience of food reward in animals and humans, examines the scientific hypothesis of food addiction, discusses methodological and terminology challenges, and identifies knowledge gaps and future research needs. Topics addressed herein include the role of reward and hedonic aspects in the regulation of food intake, neuroanatomy and neurobiology of the reward system in animals and humans, responsivity of the brain reward system to palatable foods and drugs, translation of craving versus addiction, and cognitive control of food reward. The content is based on a workshop held in 2013 by the North American Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuv002 | DOI Listing |
J Neurosci
January 2025
Carleton University, Neuroscience Department, Ottawa, ON, Canada,
Ghrelin enhances feeding by activating the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR). In the brain, GHSRs are expressed in regions responsible for regulating food motivation including the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Endogenous cannabinoids also promote food seeking behaviors through the cannabinoid receptor 1 type (CB-1Rs) in brain regions including the VTA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropharmacology
January 2025
Neurosciences PhD Program, School of Pharmacy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States. Electronic address:
In humans, grief is characterized by intense sadness, intrusive thoughts of the deceased, and intense longing for reunion with the deceased. Human fMRI studies show hyperactivity in emotional pain and motivational centers of the brain when an individual is reminded of a deceased attachment figure, but the molecular underpinnings of these changes in activity are unknown. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), which establish lifelong social bonds between breeding pairs, also display distress and motivational shifts during periods of prolonged social loss, providing a model to investigate these behavioral and molecular changes at a mechanistic level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
In cognitive science, the sensation of "groove" has been defined as the pleasurable urge to move to music. When listeners rate rhythmic stimuli on derived pleasure and urge to move, ratings on these dimensions are highly correlated. However, recent behavioural and brain imaging work has shown that these two components may be separable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
December 2024
Orygen, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
: Recent research has increasingly explored the cognitive processes underlying eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFEDs), and individuals with higher weight (HW). This critical narrative review focuses on neurocognitive findings derived from mainly experimental tasks to provide a detailed understanding of cognitive functioning across these groups. Where experimental data are lacking, we draw on self-report measures and neuroimaging findings to offer supplementary insights.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsects
November 2024
Laboratório de Biologia Comportamental, Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil.
When searching for food, animals often make decisions about where to go, how long to stay in a foraging area, and whether to return to the most recently visited spot. These decisions can be enhanced by cognitive traits and adjusted based on previous experience. In social insects, such as ants, foraging efficiency has an impact at both the individual and colony levels.
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