Obesity and the brain: how convincing is the addiction model?
- 14 March 2012
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Vol. 13 (4), 279-286
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3212
Abstract
An increasingly influential perspective conceptualizes both obesity and overeating as a food addiction accompanied by corresponding brain changes. Because there are far-reaching implications for clinical practice and social policy if it becomes widely accepted, a critical evaluation of this model is important. We examine the current evidence for the link between addiction and obesity, identifying several fundamental shortcomings in the model, as well as weaknesses and inconsistencies in the empirical support for it from human neuroscientific research.Keywords
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