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New Study Shows Overeating, Sugar Addiction Could Be Controlled By Brain Circuit

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There's heroin, there's nicotine and there's sugar. They're all ferociously addictive, and perhaps the most widespread is sugar addiction, which makes a new study out Thursday so significant.

MIT researchers say they've discovered a brain circuit that appears to control sugar addiction and compulsive overeating in mice, and their results are published in the journal Cell.

Guest

Carey Goldberg, co-host of WBUR's CommonHealth blog. She tweets @commonhealth.

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CommonHealth: Sugar On The Brain Circuit: Mice Seeking Sweets May Hold Key To Compulsive Overeating

  • "You know the feeling: you’re tired, cranky, low or just have a serious, relentless desire for something sweet. Part of your brain cries out, 'No, don’t do it, this will end badly.' But another (louder) part wants what it wants and won’t let up until that pint of Cherry Garcia, or red velvet cupcake or Caramel Macchiato is in plain sight. It’s an itch that must be scratched."

This segment aired on January 29, 2015.

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