Oreos As Addictive As Cocaine? For Rats, At Least
Like Kids, Lab Rats Go For The Creamy Middle First
(Connecticut College )
Oreos may be as addictive as cocaine, at least for lab rats, according to a study done at Connecticut College.
And like most humans, rats go after the creamy center first.
In a study designed to consider the potential addictiveness of foods with high fat and high sugar content, Connecticut College Professor Joseph Schroeder and his students found eating the cookies activated more neurons in the brain's "pleasure center" than exposure to cocaine or morphine.
And like most humans, rats go after the creamy center first.
In a study designed to consider the potential addictiveness of foods with high fat and high sugar content, Connecticut College Professor Joseph Schroeder and his students found eating the cookies activated more neurons in the brain's "pleasure center" than exposure to cocaine or morphine.
They
also found that rats formed an equally strong association between the
pleasurable effects of eating Oreos and a specific place as they did
between cocaine or morphine and a specific place.
"Our research supports the theory that high-fat, high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do," Schroeder said. "It may explain why some people can't resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them."
Schroeder, an assistant professor of neuroscience, will present the research next month at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, Calif.
The research was the inspiration of neuroscience major Jamie Honohan, who undertook a project through the college's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy where students choose a social injustice and do research related to it.
Honohan, who graduated in May, was interested in the prevalence of obesity in lower socio-economic communities. "Our goal was to design a study to explore the hypothesis that high fat, high sugar foods have the same addictive potential as drugs of abuse," Honahan said.
As for why Oreos were chosen rather than a high fat, high sugar rat chow, Schroeder said, "We specifically wanted to choose a food that was palatable to humans so that we could make a direct correlation from rats to a problem facing humans."
Honahan said she also wanted to use a product that was common in grocery stores and, she noted, some research that showed that rats like Oreos.
The study was conducted by setting up two adjoining chambers for the rats. In one experiment, rats were given Oreo cookies in one space and rice cakes in the other. It was clear, Honahan said that the rats preferred the broken Oreos, splitting the cookies apart and devouring the cream first and then going on to eat the cookies. While they often didn't bother to finish the rice cakes, that wasn't the case with the Oreos.
"Just like humans, rats don't seem to get much pleasure out of eating [rice cakes]," Schroeder said.
Then, the food was removed and the rats were given the option of spending time in either chamber. The rats spent far more time in the chamber where the Oreos had been than in the chamber where the rice cakes had been.
In a second experiment, rats were given a shot of cocaine or morphine, known addictive substances, in one chamber, while they received a shot of saline in the other. Again, the substances were removed and the rats were given the choice of which chamber to spend time in.
"Our research supports the theory that high-fat, high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do," Schroeder said. "It may explain why some people can't resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them."
Schroeder, an assistant professor of neuroscience, will present the research next month at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, Calif.
The research was the inspiration of neuroscience major Jamie Honohan, who undertook a project through the college's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy where students choose a social injustice and do research related to it.
Honohan, who graduated in May, was interested in the prevalence of obesity in lower socio-economic communities. "Our goal was to design a study to explore the hypothesis that high fat, high sugar foods have the same addictive potential as drugs of abuse," Honahan said.
As for why Oreos were chosen rather than a high fat, high sugar rat chow, Schroeder said, "We specifically wanted to choose a food that was palatable to humans so that we could make a direct correlation from rats to a problem facing humans."
Honahan said she also wanted to use a product that was common in grocery stores and, she noted, some research that showed that rats like Oreos.
The study was conducted by setting up two adjoining chambers for the rats. In one experiment, rats were given Oreo cookies in one space and rice cakes in the other. It was clear, Honahan said that the rats preferred the broken Oreos, splitting the cookies apart and devouring the cream first and then going on to eat the cookies. While they often didn't bother to finish the rice cakes, that wasn't the case with the Oreos.
"Just like humans, rats don't seem to get much pleasure out of eating [rice cakes]," Schroeder said.
Then, the food was removed and the rats were given the option of spending time in either chamber. The rats spent far more time in the chamber where the Oreos had been than in the chamber where the rice cakes had been.
In a second experiment, rats were given a shot of cocaine or morphine, known addictive substances, in one chamber, while they received a shot of saline in the other. Again, the substances were removed and the rats were given the choice of which chamber to spend time in.
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