Addictive drugs like cocaine stimulate high sensations similar to the pleasure rats get while eating Oreos. High fat and high sugar food can also be addictive, according to a new study.
A research team led by Prof. Joseph Schroeder from the Connecticut College in New London conducted an experiment on rats and tried to compare the results to earlier studies on cocaine and morphine within controlled environments. Findings were examined against the previous tests on rats that were given shots of morphine or cocaine on one part of the maze and saline on the other side.
Using this method, they were able to measure the addictiveness of Oreos.
Two parts of the maze were used for observing the starving rats; one side has Oreos while the other has rice cakes, a control factor. The rats were allowed to spend time on both sides to see how much time they spend on the part of the maze that has Oreos.
The results were typical to the human appetite for rice cakes. "Just like humans, rats don't seem to get much pleasure out of eating rice cakes,” Schroeder said.
They analyzed the rats’ brain pleasure center by measuring the neuronal reactions in the brain. The quantity of cells that were activated in this specific part of the brain was measured to check the response of the rats to the addictive drugs and the Oreos.
The Connecticut researchers discovered that the rats in both tests tend to hang around in the part of the maze where they were fed with the addictive substances, the cocaine, morphine and the Oreos. They also saw that the neuron cells activated in the pleasure center of the rat’s brain were more pronounced than when rats were given shots of the addictive drugs.
According to Schroeder, the behavior of the rats support the hypothesis that food containing high sugar and high fat, like the Oreos in this case, can “stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do.”
"It may explain why some people can't resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them," he added.
This study was first reported by UPI.com and will be presented in a conference of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego in November.
