title: Feelings about food: the ventral tegmental area in food reward and emotional eating.
abstract: Overconsumption of high caloric food plays an important role in the etiology of obesity. Several factors drive such hedonic feeding. High caloric food is often palatable. In addition, when an individual is sated, stress and food-related cues can serve as potent feeding triggers. A better understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of food palatability and environmentally triggered overconsumption would aid the development of new treatment strategies. In the current review we address the pivotal role of the mesolimbic dopamine reward system in the drive towards high caloric palatable food and its relation to stress- and cue-induced feeding. We also discuss how this system may be affected by both established and potential anti-obesity drug targets.
authors: Institut du Fer à Moulin, Paris, France; Inserm, UMR-S839, Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris, France.
authors: Frank J
authors: FJ
authors: Meye
authors: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.a.h.adan@umcutrecht.nl.
authors: Roger A H
authors: RA
authors: Adan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D012201:Reward; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine