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...cusp of human knowledge, particle physics can seem esoteric indeed. But the LHC's findings may have implications that go beyond pure science. CERN, a pan-European project dedicated to peaceful nuclear research, was founded in the late 1940s as a sort of atonement for the legacies of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and two wars during which Europeans slaughtered one another by the millions - many of CERN's elder scientists vividly remember the instability, randomness and despair that characterized that...
...most recent study to examine the addictive quality of fattening foods was published online March 28 by the journal Nature Neuroscience. For the paper, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., examined three groups of lab rats that were fed various diets for 40 days. One group was given typical rat chow only; a second group was offered rat chow, plus a buffet of bacon, sausage, cheesecake, chocolate frosting and other delectable goodies for one hour a day; and a third group was allowed extended access to the fatty buffet for up to 23 hours...
...what shocked the researchers was that extended-access rats also showed deficits in their "reward threshold." That is, unrestricted exposure to large quantities of high-sugar, high-fat foods changed the functioning of the rats' brain circuitry, making it harder and harder for them to register pleasure - in other words, they developed a type of tolerance often seen in addiction - an effect that got progressively worse as the rats gained more weight. "It was quite profound," says study author Paul Kenny, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute. The reward-response effects seen in the fatty-food...
...dopamine receptor in the brain, which is thought to contribute to pleasure-seeking behavior in humans. "Human cocaine addicts, people who are obese, alcoholics and heroin addicts also show a down-regulation of this dopamine D2 receptor," says David Shertleff, director of the division of basic neuroscience and behavioral research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "This system is geared toward motivating behavior normally, but what's happening here is, with chronic exposure to highly fatty and sweet manufactured food, you're actually getting to a pathological state...
...question is, does this data really show that the ubiquity of cheap junk food will turn us all into junkies? Not really. A closer look at certain key elements of this study and of prior research helps clarify who - mouse or man - is most likely to get hooked and who isn't, and why addiction involves a lot more than mere exposure to a substance...