Your brain absolutely cannot resist doughnuts – here’s why

Your brain(brān) absolutely cannot resist(riˈzist) doughnuts(ˈdōˌnət) – here’s why

By Alison George(jôrj)

Doughnuts are particularly(pə(r)ˈtikyələrlē) difficult to resist – and now we know why. A study of how our brains respond to food has found that treats(trēt) that are high in both carbs(ˈkärb) and fats(fat) trigger(ˈtrigər) a super-charged(CHärjd) amount of activity in our brain’s reward centre(ˈsentər).

Dana Small at Yale(yāl) University and colleagues(ˈkälˌēg) scanned the brain activity of hungry volunteers(ˌvälənˈtir) as they were shown images(ˈimij) of foods that were either high in carbohydrate(ˌkärbəˈhīˌdrāt), such as candy(ˈkandē), high in fat, such as cheese(CHēz), or high in both, such as doughnuts. After the scans, the volunteers were asked to bid(bid) money in a competitive(kəmˈpetətiv) auction(ˈôkSHən) for the food they wanted to have for a snack(snak).

Compared(kəmˈpe(ə)r) to food containing just carbs or fat, the team found that foods high in both of these together provoked(prəˈvōk) far more activity in the brain’s striatum(ˈī) – a region involved in reward that releases(riˈlēs) the feel-good chemical(ˈkemikəl) dopamine(ˈdōpəˌmēn).

The volunteers were also willing to pay more for the snacks that were high in both carbs and fat, despite all the food items having the same calorific(ˌkaləˈrifik) value.

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https://www.newscientist.com/article/2171695-your-brain-absolutely-cannot-resist-doughnuts-heres-why/