Compulsive overeating and sugar addiction are major threats to human health, but potential treatments face the risk of impairing normal feeding behaviors that are crucial for survival. A new study reveals a reward-related neural circuit that specifically controls compulsive sugar consumption in mice without preventing feeding necessary for survival, providing a novel target for the safe and effective treatment of compulsive overeating in humans.

Researchers have identified a peptide and hormone that when administered to a specific area of the brain may reduce the desire for food. The study may one day lead to medications that treat obesity and binge eating disorders.

Researchers have revealed how obesity is associated with altered opioid neurotransmission in the brain. New research reveals how obesity is associated with altered functioning of brain’s opioid system, which is intimately involved in generating pleasurable sensations. The researchers found that obesity was associated with significantly lowered number of opioid receptors in the brain. However, no changes were observed in the dopamine neurotransmitter system, which regulates motivational aspects of eating.

People with anorexia nervosa and with body dysmorphic disorder have similar abnormalities in their brains that affect their ability to process visual information, a new study reveals. People with anorexia have such an intense fear of gaining weight that they starve themselves even when they are dangerously thin. Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by an obsessive preoccupation with a perceived flaw in physical appearance.

Binge-eating in teenagers may be linked to a gene variation, according to new research.

Picky eating among children is a common but burdensome problem that can result in poor nutrition for kids, family conflict, and frustrated parents. Although many families see picky eating as a phase, a new study finds moderate and severe picky eating often coincides with serious childhood issues such as depression and anxiety that may need intervention.

Studying the ‘gut-brain axis,’ researchers find evidence of an association between the gut microbiota and the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

When people with anorexia nervosa decide what to eat, they engage a part of the brain associated with habitual behavior. These findings open up entirely new avenues for treatment development and understanding of disease mechanisms, say the researchers.

Women with apple-shaped bodies — those who store more of their fat in their trunk and abdominal regions — may be at particular risk for the development of eating episodes during which they experience a sense of ‘loss of control,’ according to a new study.

Being bullied in childhood has been associated with increased risk for anxiety, depression and even eating disorders. But according to new research, it’s not only the victims who could be at risk psychologically, but also the bullies themselves.

Some of the simplest, safest lessons to help adolescents combat obesity may be raising their awareness of what they are eating and whether they are even hungry, researchers say.

Never make a decision when you are hungry. The hormone ghrelin – that is released before meals and known to increase appetite – has a negative effect on both decision making and impulse control, report scientists.