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food cravings

Image of a pregant woman with a blue ribbon around her belly.

·September 26, 2015·5 min read

Pass the Salt: Identifying Brain Changes That Drive Pregnancy Cravings

A new study reveals fruit flies share the human craving for salty foods during pregnancy and also sheds light on the neural mechanisms behind these cravings.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 4, 2024·6 min read

Loneliness, Food Cravings, and the Brain

A new study reveals the link between loneliness, cravings for high-calorie foods, and unhealthy eating behaviors in women, highlighting a significant brain activity pattern associated with social isolation. The research found that women feeling lonely show increased brain activation in areas related to cravings when exposed to images of sugary foods, alongside decreased self-control towards eating.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 4, 2022·4 min read

Neuronal Mechanisms That Control Food Cravings During Pregnancy Identified

A new study sheds light on the neurobiology of cravings for certain foods women experience while pregnant. According to researchers, during pregnancy, the brain undergoes alterations to functional connections in the reward systems, as well as taste and sensorimotor centers. Pregnant females become more sensitive to sweet foods and develop binge eating behaviors toward high-calorie foods. Pregnancy induces a full reorganization of the mesolimbic neural circuits via D2R dopaminergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens.

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·October 9, 2019·4 min read

Craving junk food after a sleepless night?

Sleep deprivation causes the olfactory system to go into overdrive, sharpening food odors, and breaking down communication within other brain areas that receive food signals.

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·September 7, 2022·6 min read

Cravings for Fatty Foods Traced to Gut-Brain Connection

Fat entering the intestines triggers a signal that is conducted across the neurons and to the brain, driving the desire for fatty foods.

This shows a woman fixing a plate of food

Featured Neuroscience

·December 20, 2022·5 min read

Newly Identified Neuromarker Reveals Clues About Drug and Food Craving

Researchers have identified neural biomarkers associated with food and drug cravings. The findings could help pave the way for new treatments for addiction.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 10, 2021·4 min read

Brainfood: Researchers Find Brain Area Associated with Craving Protein

Study reveals the role the ventral tegmental area of the brain plays in craving protein-rich foods.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 20, 2022·5 min read

Got Food Cravings? What’s Living in Your Gut May Be Responsible

Microbes in the gut influence what an animal chooses to eat. Altering the microbiome resulted in changes to preferred diets.

The image is a drawing of the brain with the prefrontal cortex highlighted.

Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·September 16, 2014·2 min read

Indulging in Junk Food Linked to Lapses in Brain Function

A lapse in function in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is partly responsible for people caving into their high calorie cravings, a new study reports.

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·July 23, 2018·3 min read

How the Brain Controls Food Cravings

A new EEG study reveals when activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is suppressed, cravings for high calorie food increases.

This shows a woman surrounded by junk food.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 8, 2023·5 min read

Stressed Brains Amplify Comfort Food Cravings

Researchers uncovered how chronic stress in combination with high-calorie diets can amplify our brain's reward system, driving overeating and weight gain. They found that stress inhibits the lateral habenula, a brain area typically curbing such reward signals.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 28, 2019·5 min read

Ack! I need chocolate! The science of PMS food cravings

From comfort eating to hormonal levels contributing to a desire for sweets, many studies have investigated why women with PMS often crave certain foods. Researchers explore why food cravings may occur, and what can be done to suppress them for women with premenstrual syndrome.