Avena, N.M., Bocarsly, Hobel (2012) Animal Models of sugar and fat bingeing: relationship to to food addiction and increased body weight. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), 829, 351-365 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-458-223

Animal models of sugar and fat bingeing allow for a detailed analysis of 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 increased body weight, potentially leading to obesity.