Introduction to the Neurology Research

      The field of food addiction neurology has been created at the convergence of the fields of addiction and eating neurology. Interest in the neurocircuitry of both food and drugs has been spurred by the quest to find a pharmaceutical intervention to treat drug addiction and obesity. The task has been joined around the world as researchers have pinpointed elements of a complicated and redundant feeding and pleasure reward network of neuropathways.

      Much of the new knowledge in both fields has been derived from four research methods: measurement of neurotransmitter activity in animals, brain imaging in both animals and humans, genetic analysis, and observations of behavior. Animal behavior studies and studies in human crossover from drug to eating are referenced in review articles about food addiction. Included in the general scientific literature are studies of specific foods, most importantly chocolate and sucrose, but also other refined carbohydrates, fat, salt, and dairy.

      As a result of the emphasis on finding a pharmaceutical treatment for both obesity and drug addiction, the majority of work in the field of food addiction has occurred at the convergence of research into the neurocircuitry of eating and addiction. Specifically the identification and description of neurotransmitters, neuropathways, and genetics involved in eating and addiction have been consistently researched areas of interest. In the field of eating, extensive research into hunger, appetite, reward, and satiety has yielded information about the extensive neuropathways involved in these functions. At the same time, research into addiction has yielded research into the neurocircuitry of cravings, dependence, abuse, intoxication, and withdrawal. As the results of work in both of these fields have been published, a rapidly growing body of researchers has described similarities between the two fields to create the field of food addiction neurology.