Sensitivity to reward: implications for overeating and overweight

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2003.07.004

Appetite

Volume 42, Issue 2, April 2004, Pages 131-138

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2003.07.004 Get rights and content

Abstract

Sensitivity to reward (STR)—a personality trait firmly rooted in the neurobiology of the mesolimbic dopamine system—has been strongly implicated in the risk for addiction. This construct describes the ability to derive pleasure or reward from natural reinforcers like food, and from pharmacologic rewards like addictive drugs. Recently experts in the field of addiction research have acknowledged that psychomotor stimulant drugs are no longer at the heart of all addictions, and that brain circuits can also be deranged with natural rewards like food. The present study tested a model in which STR was expected to relate positively to overeating, which in turn would be associated with higher body weight in woman aged 25–45 years. As predicted, STR was correlated positively with measures of emotional overeating. Also, overweight woman were significantly more sensitive to reward than those of normal weight. Interestingly, however, the obese woman (Body Mass Index>30) were more anhedonic than the overweight woman (Body Mass Index>25<30). These findings are discussed in the context of neuroadaptations to overactivity of brain reward circuits. Results also indicate that STR may serve as a risk factor for overeating and overweight, especially in cultures such as ours where palatable, calorically-dense food is plentiful.

Section snippets

Participants

A stratified sample of 148 healthy pre-menopausal adult women—selected according to BMI categories defined by the World Health Organization (1998)—took part in the study: 59 normal weight (BMI>18.5<25); 49 overweight (BMI>25<30); and 40 obese (BMI>30).¹

Results

Table 1 presents means and standard deviations for all variables used in the statistical analyses, listed separately by BMI category.

Discussion

The relationships we predicted in this study were largely confirmed. STR was positively correlated with emotional overeating (but only in response to a depressed mood), which in turn was positively associated with BMI. The fact that negative emotions enhance the desire for food in some people—though not in others—may be partly explained by differential activation of the mesocortical DA pathway during moderate levels of stress (Beaufour, Le Bihan, Hamon, & Thiebot, 2001). Contrary to our

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Research ReportSensitivity to reward: implications for overeating and overweight

Abstract

Section snippets

Participants

Results

Discussion

Psychiatry Research

Neuroscience

Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior

Addictive Behaviors

Comprehensive Psychiatry

Addictive Disorders

Eating Behaviors

Physiology and Behavior

Neuropsychopharmacology

Biological Psychiatry

Neuropsychopharmacology

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Nutrition

Neuron

Neuroscience

Neuron

Behavioural Brain Research

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

Nutrition Research

American Journal of Human Genetics

The Lancet

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Neuron

The heritability of body mass index among an international sample of monozygotic twins reared apart

International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders

The emotional eating scale: the development of a measurement to assess coping with negative affect by eating

International Journal of Eating Disorders

The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Differential expression of motivational stimulus properties by dopamine in nucleus accumbens shell versus core and prefrontal cortex

The Journal of Neuroscience

Development of food preferences

Annual Review of Nutrition

Dopamine D2 receptor gene variants: association and linkage studies in impulsive–addictive–compulsive behaviour

Pharmacogenetics

Dopamine D2 receptor density and personal detachment in healthy subjects

American Journal of Psychiatry

Scales for physical and social anhedonia

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Neurogenetic adaptive mechanisms in alcoholism

Science

Evidence that intermittent, excessive sugar intake causes endogenous opioid dependence

Obesity Research

Addiction and the eating disorders

Psychiatric Times

Drugs of abuse: biochemical surrogates of specific aspects of natural rewards?

Biochemical Society Symposium

Research Report
Sensitivity to reward: implications for overeating and overweight