Pleasure Loss, Not Cravings, Drives Overeating in Obesity

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https://neurosciencenews.com/dopamine-food-pleasure-obesity-28516/

Neuroscience·March 27, 2025


Summary: A new study reveals that long-term high-fat diets reduce pleasure from eating by lowering neurotensin, a brain peptide that boosts dopamine response. This loss of reward dampens the desire for high-calorie foods, potentially worsening obesity by promoting habitual, joyless eating.

In mice, restoring neurotensin levels reversed this effect, improving weight control and eating behavior. The findings highlight a brain mechanism behind obesity and open new avenues for targeted treatments.

Key Facts:

Neurotensin’s Role: Obesity is linked to reduced neurotensin in brain regions tied to food reward.

Restored Motivation: Reinstating neurotensin in obese mice revived food enjoyment and normalized eating patterns.

Therapeutic Potential: Targeting neurotensin pathways may lead to precise, side-effect-free obesity treatments.

The pleasure we get from eating junk food — the dopamine rush from crunching down on salty, greasy French fries and a luscious burger — is often blamed as the cause of overeating and rising obesity rates in our society

But a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that pleasure in eating, even eating junk food, is key for maintaining a healthy weight in a society that abounds with cheap, high-fat food.

Paradoxically, anecdotal evidence suggests that people with obesity may take less pleasure in eating than those of normal weight. Brain scans of obese individuals show reduced activity in pleasure-related brain regions when presented with food, a pattern also observed in animal studies.

Now, UC Berkeley researchers have identified a possible underlying cause of this phenomenon — a decline in neurotensin, a brain peptide that interacts with the dopamine network — and a potential strategy to restore pleasure in eating in a way that helps reduce overall consumption.

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The researchers then tested ways to restore neurotensin levels. Credit: Neuroscience News