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Striatal dopamine D2-like receptor correlation patterns with human obesity and opportunistic eating behavior

Molecular Psychiatry volume 19, pages 1078–1084 (2014)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 14 September 2022

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Abstract

The obesity epidemic is believed to be driven by a food environment that promotes consumption of inexpensive, convenient, high-calorie, palatable foods. Individual differences in obesity susceptibility or resistance to weight loss may arise because of alterations in the neurocircuitry supporting food reward and eating habits. In particular, dopamine signaling in the ventromedial striatum is thought to encode food reward and motivation, whereas dopamine in the dorsal and lateral striatum orchestrates the development of eating habits. We measured striatal dopamine D2-like receptor binding potential (D2BP) using positron emission tomography with [18F]fallypride in 43 human subjects with body mass indices (BMI) ranging from 18 to 45 kg m−2. Opportunistic eating behavior and BMI were both positively associated with D2BP in the dorsal and lateral striatum, whereas BMI was negatively associated with D2BP in the ventromedial striatum. These results suggest that obese people have alterations in dopamine neurocircuitry that may increase their susceptibility to opportunistic overeating while at the same time making food intake less rewarding, less goal directed and more habitual. Whether or not the observed neurocircuitry alterations pre-existed or occurred as a result of obesity development, they may perpetuate obesity given the omnipresence of palatable foods and their associated cues.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Kaiping Burrows, Valerie Darcy, Christine Hunter, John Ingeholm, Bernard V Miller, Monica Skarulis and Nora Volkow for their assistance with the study. This research was supported, in part, by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and National Institute of Mental Health. WKS’ efforts were also partially supported by the NIMH K01MH096175-01 grant. The study was conducted under NIH Clinical Study Protocol 09-DK-0081 (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT00846040).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA

    J Guo & K D Hall

  2. Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA

    W K Simmons

  3. The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

    W K Simmons

  4. PET Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA

    P Herscovitch

  5. National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    A Martin

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  1. J Guo
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Correspondence to K D Hall.

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Guo, J., Simmons, W., Herscovitch, P. et al. Striatal dopamine D2-like receptor correlation patterns with human obesity and opportunistic eating behavior. Mol Psychiatry 19, 1078–1084 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.102

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