Meatloaf, mac-and-cheese or [--1--] mashed potatoes. We all have our comfort foods. Except for people with anorexia. Food makes them extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps because eating causes a change in brain chemistry that instead of bringing pleasure makes anorectics feel anxious. That’s according to a study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

For most people, [--2--] makes them feel good. That’s because consuming food [--3--] the release of dopamine, a chemical that tickles the pleasure centers of the brain. But for people with anorexia, meals are fraught with anxiety. So much so that some of these women, and the disease affects mostly women, actually diet themselves to death. But how could biology promote such behavior?

To find out, scientists gave volunteers a single dose of amphetamine, a drug that gets the dopamine flowing, and then looked at their brains. In women without an eating disorder, the [--4--] in dopamine acted as expected, [--5--] the brain’s pleasure centers. But in women with anorexia, dopamine flooded a part of the brain that worries about consequences, thus fueling their anxiety. Seeing where this anxiety comes from could be the first step to help making it disappear.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
a big bowl of breaking bread stimulates boost lighting up
大腦絕食引發(fā)的后果 我們都喜歡享用烘肉卷，芝士通心粉，或許還有一大碗土豆泥這些爽心的美食。當(dāng)然，除了那些患有厭食癥的人。因?yàn)槭澄飼?huì)讓他們十分的不舒服。這有可能是因?yàn)樗麄兂詵|西的時(shí)候，大腦中產(chǎn)生愉悅情緒的化學(xué)物質(zhì)發(fā)生改變，變得厭食和焦躁。此項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《國際進(jìn)食障礙雜志》上。 對(duì)于大多數(shù)人來說，進(jìn)餐是件很愉快的事情。因?yàn)橄澄飼?huì)刺激多巴胺（一種刺激大腦愉悅中樞的化學(xué)物質(zhì)）的釋放。但對(duì)于厭食人群來說，吃飯令人焦躁。患厭食癥的人群中以女性居多，而厭食的女性事實(shí)上都絕食而死。但為何生物會(huì)產(chǎn)生如此舉動(dòng)？ 為找出原因，科學(xué)家讓自愿者們服用單次量安非他明（解除憂郁、疲勞的藥），這種藥物可以提高多巴胺的含量，然后檢查他們的腦部。在沒有飲食障礙的女性大腦中，多巴胺刺激大腦愉悅中樞。但是在患有厭食癥的女性大腦中，多巴胺充斥著大腦的憂慮區(qū)域，從而引發(fā)焦躁不安的情緒?？茖W(xué)家想消滅厭食癥的第一步就是找出這種焦躁從何而來。