Addiction-like Synaptic Impairments in Diet-Induced Obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is increasing evidence that the pathological overeating underlying some forms of obesity is compulsive in nature and therefore contains elements of an addictive disorder. However, direct physiological evidence linking obesity to synaptic plasticity akin to that occurring in addiction is lacking. We sought to establish whether the propensity to diet-induced obesity (DIO) is associated with addictive-like behavior, as well as synaptic impairments in the nucleus accumbens core considered hallmarks of addiction.

Methods

Sprague Dawley rats were allowed free access to a palatable diet for 8 weeks then separated by weight gain into DIO-prone and DIO-resistant subgroups. Access to palatable food was then restricted to daily operant self-administration sessions usin

SUBMITTER: Brown RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4889544 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature