Title

:
TheBrainsContributiontoSugarAddiction
Name
:
RachelEdwards
ExperimentalQuestion
:
Whathappensinthebrainandwhenthebodyintakesasubstancewithsugar?
Howdoesthebraincontributetosugaraddiction?

Background
:
Addictionisextremelycommoninourworld.Millionsareaddictedtosomethingratheritbea
drug,substance,orevenanactivity.Addictionisdefinedbycravingsomethingintensely,losingcontrol
ofyourlifeduetoitsuse,andcontinuingusedespitetheconsequencesthatfollow.Webecomeaddicted
tosomethingonceitbeginstomanipulateourbrainfunctions.Itchangesthewaywefeelpleasureand
evenmakesithardertodoso.Addictioncanalsohinderchemicalprocessesandfunctionsthatgiveusthe
drivetolearnandbemotivated.Thisisaveryseriousissueasaddictionaltersthemindandhasdrastic
consequencesonourfunctioning.
Alljoyandpleasureisprocessedinthesamewayinourbrain,regardlessofthereasoning.When
wearepleased,dopamineisreleasedinthenucleusaccumbens,alsoknownasthepleasurecenterofthe
brain.Fromthatfeelingofpleasurethehippocampuswillrecordamemoryofthesatisfactionfeltandthe
dopaminereleased.Thisiswhytheaddictioncontinuesanditbecomesdifficulttodenythesubstanceor
actionbecausewehavememoryofitbringingpleasure.
Thethreemostcommonfoodsubstancesthatthebrainreactstoarefats,salts,andsugars.Our
brainsarewiredtocraveanddesirethesenutrients.Also,whenwearepresentedwithsugar,fatorsalt,
ourprimitivebehaviourtellsustointakeasmuchaspossible.Thisisbecauseourbrainwantstoobtainas
manycaloriesaspossiblebasedoffourancestralneedtosurvive.Sugarhasveryspecificeffectsonthe
neurochemicalrewardcentersofthebrain.Itstimulatestheserewardcenterstoreleasedopaminemuch
likemanycommondrugs.Afteralongperiodofeatinghighlevelsofsugar,detrimentalsideeffectsbegin
totakeplacewithinthebodyandbrain.Anexampleofaneffectisthatsugarcanlowertheamountof

dopaminereceptors(HymanMD.,2014).Whenthesereceptorsarelessened,theamountofsugarneeded
tofeelsatisfiedincreases.Thisisoneofthemainreasoningsforthedevelopmentofaddiction.Also,
manyspeciesdevelopasugartolerancewhichmeanssugaristhenusedtomakethebodyfeelnormal.
Inoursocietytoday,sugaraddictionisextremelyprevalentwhetherweaddressitornot.The
ingredientisfoundinmostprocessedfoodsandcanbeobtainedinlargequantities.Peopleoftencraveor
desireacertainfoodbasedonitssugarcontent.Itisnotnecessarilytheindividualsfaultforbecoming
addicted.Foodindustriesmaketheirproductsbiologicallyaddictivewithdifferentchemicalsand
ingredients.Mostfoodsarecreatedtoreleaseneurochemicalsthatsignifyafeelingofreward.Thissense
ofrewardandpresenceofstrongneurochemicalsinthebrainoverrideourwillpowerandblockthe
signalsinneuronsthataremeanttocontrolhunger.Differenttypesofsugarwillalwaysnormallybe
foundinthemajorityofprocessedfoods.Sugaraddictioncanbecomparedtoandtreatedmuchlikemajor
drugaddictions.Itcanalsobeprovenbysimilarexperimentsandbrainscans.

ModelOrganisms:
Totesttheeffectsofsugaronthebrainortoproveitcausesaddictivebehaviour,eitherhumans
orratswouldbeefficientmodelorganismsforexperiments.Sinceratsandhumansarebothmammals
theysharesimilarbrainfunctionsandstructure.Thisallowscomparisonstobemadeandconclusionsin
experimentspossible.Ratswouldbeeasiesttoperformavarietyofexperimentson.Theyareverycheap
andeasytohandle.Theratsbehaviourisalsoeasilyrecordedandobserved.Allratsarealmost
geneticallyidenticalwhichactsasacontrolvariableinexperiments.Theiranatomyandgeneticshave
becomethoroughlyunderstood.Thiswouldbeextremelybeneficialwhentestingthepossibilityofsugar
addictiontoeasilyunderstandthereasonforchangeinbehaviour.Themostimportantreasonthatratsare
anappropriatechoiceforexperimentisbecausetheirbehaviour,genetic,andbiologicalaspectsclosely
resemblethoseofhumans.

Humantestingcanbeusedtoanextentinthetopicofsugaraddiction.Humansareobviously
idealsubjectssincetheyarerelevanttothepubliceye.Itisquickertomakeconclusionsandcomparisons
betweenpersontoperson.Humangeneticsareverysimilar,muchlikerats,althoughthebehavioursmay
varymorewidelyasopposedtorodents.Testingonhumansallowsscientistsrecordandcommunicate
directly.Thewayhumanscanbetestedinthiscontextisbyquestionnaires,PETscanswhenpresented
withsugar,andpossiblydietchangeexperiments.

ExperimentalTechniques:
Toproveandfurtherstudythistopic,therearealotofpossibleexperimentsthatcanbe
performedinoroutofalab.Manypreviousexperimentshavealreadybeenperformedthathave
concludedwithviablefindings.Formypersonalfindings,Iwillusedifferentexperimentaltechniques
betweenthemodelorganismsofrodentsandhumans.
ThemainexperimentIwillconductinvolvesrats.TherecordingtoolswillbePETscansand
behaviouralobservations.Therewillbethreetestgroupsofrats.Thefirstwillbepresentedwithfoodof
highsugarlevelsfortwelvehoursofthedayandthenwillbedeprivedofsugartheothertwelvehoursof
theday.Thisprocesswillgoonforfifteendays,eachdaybeingexactlythesame.Thiswilltest
behaviouraleffectsofsugar.Iwillbelookingfordailyincreasedintakeofsugarforthetwelvehoursitis
available.Also,thebehaviouroftheratswhendeprivedofsugar.EachdayIwilllookattherats
neurochemicalactivity,specificallythatofdopamine.Thelevelsofdopamineandactivityofreceptors
willberecordeddaily.Thereleaseofdopaminewillbeviewedintheaccumbenscore(pleasurecenter).
Thereceptorswillbeexaminedmainlyinthehippocampus,cingulatecortex,anddorsalstriatum.The
secondgroupwillgothroughnearlythesameprocess.Excepttheirintroductiontosugarwilllastfor
threehoursandtheirdeprivationwilllasttwentyonehours.Thepurposeofthisistoseeifthereisan
increasedbingewhensugarispresented.Also,comparisonsandsimilaritiescantheneasilybetested
betweenthetwogroupsthathaveopportunitytobinge.Thethirdwillbeunlikethefirsttwo.Theirmeals

willbecontrolledwiththelevelofsugarintakealsocontrolled.Thisistoseeifasugaraddictionisstill
developedwithalow,controlledamountofsugarinthedailydiet.Thistestgroupwillalsogothrough
dailybrainscans.Alltheseexperimentsallowrelapsebehaviour,motivationforsugar,abstinence
behaviour,neurochemicalchanges,andreceptorchanges:allaspectsthatdetermineaddiction.
Questionnaireshavebeencompletedtodeterminefoodcravingsinhumans.Thesequestionnaires
arecalled
FoodCravingQuestionnaires.
Observingdatareceivedfromthesequestionnairesandapplying
themtomyownsubjectscouldpresentrelevantinformationthatpertainstofoodaddiction.These
questionnairesalsocomparedifferentcravingswiththeBMIofthesubject.Anotherexperiment
involvinghumanswouldusefMRIsandPETscans.Functionalmagneticresonanceimagingiswhat
fMRIstandsfor.Itdetectsbloodflowchangesandactivitythatcorrespondswiththesechanges.The
fMRIwillshowtheactivationofcertainbrainregionsinregardstosugarintake.Positronemission
tomographyiswhatPETstandsfor.Thisscantechniqueusesradioactivetagswhichareinjectedinto
theveinsandabsorbed.Thescancantrackdifferentchemicallevelsandactivity,whichresultinbright
spotsinthevisual.ThePETscanscantrackglucoselevelsordopaminelevelsthroughouttheentirebrain
whensugarisconsumed.

SocietalandEthicalImpacts:
Sugarisinvolvedinsomanyaspectsofoursociety,regardlessofthelifestyle.Whetheritbein
socialinteraction,rewards,meals,snacks,etc.,taffectsalloflivesatdifferentlevels.Somepeopleare
controlledbytheconsumptionofsugarandsomearecontrolledbyavoidingtheconsumptionofsugar.
Theexperimentspresentedaboveadvancetheknowledgewehaveofsugaraddictionbyproviding
informationonbehaviour,habits,externalfactors,symptoms,andbrainprocesses.Thefindingswould
notyetbeabletoprovidediagnosisortreatmentforthepossiblementalillness.Although,the
experimentswillpromotewaystotargetregionsofthebrainassociatedwithsugaraddiction.Identifying
thesetargetedareascandetermineviable,controlledtreatmentwithfurtherresearch.

Withfurtherdevelopmentoftreatment,theeliminationofsugaraddictioncoulddefeatmany
healthproblemsweseeinAmerica.Thesehealthproblemscanaffectanyage,gender,orweightclass.In
otherwordswearesusceptibletothenegativeeffectsofexcesssugar.Thehealthissuesincludediabetes,
cholesterol,obesity,heartattacks,formsofcancer,andmanymore.Also,understandingourpredisposed
sugardesirecanhelpallpeopletobemoreawareofwhatisbeingconsumed.Thepresenceofsugarina
foodisnotalwaysclear,butwitheducationoursocietycouldlearntobemoreintentionalofwhattoeat.
Thiscouldbenefitsocietyinavariationofaspects.
Asforthetestsubjects,theywillnotbeharmed.Theratsmayundergotraumafromsuchdrastic
dietchanges.Thistraumaticexperiencescouldpossiblyendupbeingviableinformationof
behavior.Although,thepeoplewouldhavezerotonoconsequences.Theywillnotbetoldtheoutcomesof
theirbrainscans,toensuretheydonotperceivetheoutcomestorelatetosugaraddiction,forthis
informationcannotbeconcluded.Thisexperimentwillhavenoharmonthesubjects,butcanoverallaid
societywithitsfindings.

References:

Foodcraving:newcontributionsonitsassessment,moderators,andconsequences
(FrontiersinPsychology)
By:RodrguezMartn,Boris,andAdrianMeule.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302707/

EffectivenessofPrimaryCareInterventionsforWeightManagementinChildrenand
Adolescents
(Introduction)
By:Whitlock,Evelyn
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK364419/

Eatingaddiction,ratherthanfoodaddiction,bettercapturesaddictivelikeeating
behavior
(NeuroscienceandBehaviouralReviews)
By:Hebebrand,Johannes,zgrAlbayrak,RogerAdan,JochenAntel,CarlosDieguez,JohannesDe
Jong,GarethLeng,JohnMenzies,JulianG.Mercer,MichelleMurphy,GeoffreyVanDerPlasse,and
SuzanneL.Dickson.
https://mailattachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=a2bf619fa0&view=att&th=14b
80699c0810c31&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_i62uxwh80&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9JdFu3E
sEo8KuW9kSfOPz&sadet=1424204104546&sads=JYsgGFUPwwzuozXUb_Hgxzq34g

Effectsofdietaryglycemicindexonbrainregionsrelatedtorewardandcravinginmen14
(AJCN)
BelindaSLennerz,DavidCAlsop,LauraMHolsen,EmilyStern,RafaelRojas,CaraBEbbeling,JillM
Goldstein,andDavidSLudwig
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2013/06/26/ajcn.113.064113.full.pdf

FoodAddiction:CouldItExplainWhy70PercentofAmericaisFat?
MarkHyman,MD.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/02/04/foodaddictioncoulditexplainwhy70percentofamericaisfat/#
close

Excessivesugarintakealtersbindingtodopamineandmuopioidreceptorsinthebrain.
ColantuoniC
1,
SchwenkerJ
,
McCarthyJ
,
RadaP
,
LadenheimB
,
CadetJL
,
SchwartzGJ
,
MoranTH
,
HoebelBG
.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11733709

FoodAddictioninHumans
MarciaLevinPelchat
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/139/3/620.full

UnderstandingAddiction.
http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/howaddictionhijacksthebrain.htm