Not too much, not too little, just the right amount is the best policy to follow in everything, including eating. But there are two extremes in the spectrum of eating disorders namely, obesity and anorexia. So, what causes these two extremes? A new study sheds some light on how the brain reward systems respond to food in anorexic and obese people.
The study, conducted by researchers led by Guido Frank, director of the Developmental Brain Research Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, examined the brain activity of 21 anorexic, 19 obese and 23 healthy women using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Participants were visually conditioned to associate certain shapes with either a sweet or a non-sweet solution and then received the taste solutions expectedly or unexpectedly. The task has been associated with activation of brain dopamine reward circuits in the past, according to the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
According to the researchers, there was an increased neural activation of reward systems in the anorexic women, following the receipt of an unexpected sweet-tasting solution, and a diminished activation in obese individuals. The results suggest that the brain circuitry of anorexic women is different from that of obese women - with the brain reward circuits being more responsive to food stimuli in anorexic women , but less responsive in obese women. However, the specific role of these networks in eating disorders remains unclear, say the researchers.
According to statistics, one in 200 American women suffers from anorexia. The mortality rate associated with anorexia is said to be 12 times higher than the death rate of all causes of death for females aged 15 to 24 years.
Seeking to curb anorexia in young girls and women, the fashion magazine, Vogue recently decided not to list photographs of underage, anorexic models.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.