Does obesity have the characteristics of addiction?

近年来，澳大利亚超重或肥胖的人数急剧增加，增加了疾病风险。大脑对可口食物的反应与对成瘾药物的反应类似，这可能解释了为什么人们很难抗拒可口的食物。我们的工作将通过检查长期暴露于可口食物的动物的暴食、渴望、戒断和脑回路来探索大鼠肥胖是否具有成瘾的特征。

The number of overweight or obese people in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years, increasing disease risk. The brain responds to palatable food in ways similar to the response to drugs of addiction, and this may explain why people find it hard to resist palatable food. Our work will explore whether obesity in rats has the characteristics of addiction by examining bingeing, craving, withdrawal and brain circuits in animals chronically exposed to palatable food.