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Psychiatric Disorders pp 351–365Cite as

Animal Models of Sugar and Fat Bingeing: Relationship to Food Addiction and Increased Body Weight

Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB,volume 829)

Abstract

Binge eating is a behavior that occurs in some eating disorders, as well as in obesity and in nonclinical populations. Both sugars and fats are readily consumed by human beings and are common components of binges. This chapter describes animal models of sugar and fat bingeing, which allow for a detailed analysis of these behaviors and their concomitant physiological effects. The model of sugar bingeing has been used successfully to elicit behavioral and neurochemical signs of dependence in rats; e.g., indices of opiate-like withdrawal, increased intake after abstinence, cross-sensitization with drugs of abuse, and the repeated release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens following repeated bingeing. Studies using the model of fat bingeing suggest that it can produce some, but not all, of the signs of dependence that are seen with sugar binge eating, as well as increase body weight, potentially leading to obesity.

Key words

  • Binge eating
  • Dopamine
  • Fat
  • Food addiction
  • Nucleus accumbens
  • Sugar
  • Body weight

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Acknowledgments

Supported by USPHS grants MH-65024 (to B.G.H. et al.), DA-10608 (to B.G.H.), DA-031230 (to N.M.A), AA-019623 (fellowship to M.E.B), and the National Eating Disorders Association (to N.M.A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Nicole M. Avena

  2. Department of Psychology, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Nicole M. Avena, Miriam E. Bocarsly & Bartley G. Hoebel

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  1. Nicole M. Avena
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  2. Miriam E. Bocarsly
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  3. Bartley G. Hoebel
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Correspondence to Nicole M. Avena .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, S. Newell Dr. 100, Gainesville, 32610, Florida, USA

    Firas H. Kobeissy

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Avena, N.M., Bocarsly, M.E., Hoebel, B.G. (2012). Animal Models of Sugar and Fat Bingeing: Relationship to Food Addiction and Increased Body Weight. In: Kobeissy, F. (eds) Psychiatric Disorders. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 829. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-458-2_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-458-2_23

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