Special Issue (From viewpoint of the food, of smell and the fragrance are considered)
From palatability to addiction —its brain mechamism—
2007 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 200-205
Details
2007 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 200-205
An addiction to a particular food denotes a state of very strong preference and a craving for the food. The representative brain substances such as β-endorphin, dopamine and orexin are released when we feel the food is delicious, want to eat it more and show actual feeding behavior, respectively. Dopamine activates the reward system in the brain which is known to be the neural substrate of drug addictions. Since these 3 substances interact with each other to facilitate their releases, the food addiction may reflect the state of over-releases of these substances to particular food items.
