How pleasurable and desirable does this image of chocolate cake appear to you?
Research has shown that the more tempting this cake looks to you, the greater the chances you’ll take a bite of real cake, followed by another bite, and another. Before you know it, you may eventually find yourself like 34% of U.S. adults -- obese. But what if I told you that viewing this picture as not rewarding enough might also lead you down the path to obesity?
An exciting brain imaging and genetics study from the laboratory of Eric Stice at the Oregon Research Institute, recently published in the journal NeuroImage, has shown just that. Stice’s team had a group of adolescent girls imagine eating appetizing foods while viewing pictures of these foods. Over the following year, those whose brains showed less activation in areas known to respond to natural rewards like foods ended up gaining more weight -- though only if they had a particular genetic makeup.
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Goldilocks Principle of Obesity: Scientific American
Author: Luke Stoeckel
