Food Addiction: An Alternate State of Consciousness?

1. Food Addiction: An Alternate State of Consciousness? Megan Curran, Stephanie Solso Kevin Nazario, Matt Sugihara

2. Summary • Food Addiction vs. Overeating: (Stephanie) • What is food addiction? • What is the difference between desires to overeat and literal addiction to food? • Food Addiction in comparison to other neurological addictions (Megan and Kevin) • Psychological Factors (Matt) • Is food addiction actually an alternate state of consciousness ? (All of us)

3. Food Addiction Vs. Overeating * What is Food Addiction? * • Compulsiveovereating with episodes of uncontrolled eating or binging. • Eating more quickly than normal • Eating past the point of being uncomfortably full • Eating when you are not hungry • Spending excessive amounts of time and thought focused on food • Secretly planning or fantasize about eating alone • Normally begins in childhood

4. Food Addiction Vs. Overeating * Effects of Food Addiction * • High Cholesterol • Diabetes • Heart Disease • Hypertension • Clinical Depression • Kidney Disease • Arthritis • Bone Deterioration • Stoke Food Addiction can also lead to obesity, but obesity does not necessarily mean food addiction!

5. Food Addiction Vs. Overeating *Difference between Desire to overeat and Food Addiction* • Desire to overeat is often based upon cravings for specific types of food, not insatiable want to eat • Food addiction is a constant desire, not only when you are hungry Based upon community surveys, it is estimated that ~2-5% of Americans suffer from food addiction

6. Comparison to Drug Addiction

7. Dopamine • Many of these studies involve the dopamine system, one of the two main reward systems of the brain • Dopamine provides a stronger, more immediate pleasure, whereas serotonin provides a general feeling of happiness

8. STUDY: Food Effects On the Dopamine System • Sight, smell, and taste of food (mainly sight/smell) • Food stimulation produces increase in extracellular dopamine in dorsal striatum • Dopamine system in dorsal striatum plays a role in food motivation • Based on subjects’ self reported favorite foods • Correlation between the increase in dopamine from food stimulation and the changes in self reports of hunger and desire for food

9. Dopamine D2 Receptors in Drug Users And Food Addicts *Note* We realize that this image is of obese subjects, not someone necessarily addicted to food. The study glazes over this fact and there needs to be more studies on this* DA D2 (Dopamine Receptors) In the brains of controls, drug abusers, and obese subjects Control Addicted Drug Addiction Obese

10. Enhanced activity in oral somatosensory cortex in obese patients • PET scans taken from lean and obese subjects at a rest state (no food present or expectation of food) • Higher metabolic activity found in bilateral parietal somatosensory cortex. The specific areas matches the mapping of the mouth, lips and tongue involved for taste perception • Higher activity thought to mean higher sensitivity to palatability (taste) • Inference that this could lead to over-consumption due to reward sensitivity

11. “I eat because I’m unhappy,and I’m unhappy Because I eat” * psychological effects * • Withdrawal • Cravings • Depression • Fantasizing about food • Dependency

12. Discussion • Is food addiction an alternate state of consciousness? • Is addiction, in general, an alternate state of consciousness? • Do you think that this is a serious form of addiction as compared to drugs considering we must eat to survive?

13. Are you a food addict? • Do you think about your weight constantly ? • Do you eat differently in private than with other people? • Do you eat to escape from your feeling? • Do you eat when you are not hungry? • Have you ever stolen other people’s food? • Have you ever hid food to make sure you have “enough?” • Do you frequently feel shamed or guilty about what you have eaten? • Do you feel hopeless about your relationship with food?

14. References • "Enhanced resting activity of the oral somatosensory cortex in obese subjects" (Gene-Jack Wang, Nora D. Volkow, Christoph Felder, Joanna S. Fowler, Alejandro V. Levy, Naomi R. Pappas, Christopher T.Wong,Wei Zhu and NoelwahNetusil), Neuroreport (July 2, 2002) 13: 1151. • Markus, A. (2005). Neurobiology of obesity. Nature neuroscience, 8(5), 551. • Mc Cann, Scott. (2007). What is food addiction? Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http://www.anonymityone.com/faq195.htm • New food-addiction link found. (2002) Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2002/bnlpr052002.htm • Scientists find link between dopamine and obesity. (2001) Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2001/bnlpr020101.htm • Sheppard, K. (1993). Food addiction : The body knows: Revised & expanded edition HCI. • Sugar addiction. (2003) Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_sugarAddiction • The neurobiology of drug addiction - section IV: The action of cocaine. (n.d.) Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http://www.nida.nih.gov/pubs/teaching/Teaching2/Teaching5.html • Volkow, N. D., & Wise, R. A. (2005). How can drug addiction help us understand obesity? [Electronic version]. Nature neuroscience, 8(5), 555-560. • Wang, Gene-Jack Volkow, Nora D Felder, Christoph Fowler, Joanna S Levy, Alejandro V Pappas, Naomi R Wong, Christopher T Zhu, Wei Netusil,Noelwah. (2002). Enhanced resting activity of the oral somatosensory cortex in obese subjects.Neuroreport, 13(9), 1151.