- We know a good meal can stimulate ... release in the brain occurs at two different times: at the time the food is first ingested and another once the food reaches the stomach....
- Seeing or smelling a desirable food can cause a dopamine spike and increase anyones motivation to eat. For someone with binge eating disorder, this response is even stronger, making cravings more intense.4 This premature dopamine release can also be the reason why many individuals with binge eating disorder feel a lack of control over their eating.
It has been postulated that decreased mesolimbic dopamine neurotransmission can induce a reward deficiency, leading to abnormal craving behaviors to compensate for this deficit [2,47]. Otherwise, increased mesolimbic dopamine release may be associated with impulsivity and is believed to be associated with increased incentive salience, which can result in excessive intake of highly palatable foods [29]. Future studies with new imaging technologies, which can provide direct and more precise central dopamine levels will be necessary to resolve this issue.
Multiple factors regulate food intake including caloric requirements and reinforcing responses to food, which include palatability as well as conditioned responses (3). Dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters involved with feeding behaviors, and its pharmacological manipulation has marked effects on food intake (4). Brain imaging studies with positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]raclopride showed that the desire for food during presentation of palatable food stimuli, without consumption, was associated with striatal dopamine release (5).
- When we immerse our tongue in an experience with hyper-concentrated sugar, salt, or carbohydrates (i.e. hyperpalatable foods), dopamine levels surge in the part of our brain known as the nucleus accumbens.
As we can see from the illustration, Dopamine Release During Food Consumption has many fascinating aspects to explore.
- Zhu et al. found that neurons projecting from a brain region surrounding the locus ceruleus to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) mediated the increase of palatable food consumption (see the Perspective by Small). Temporally precise closed-loop VTA dopamine-releasing neuron modulation exclusively during consumption was critical for controlling this behavior.
