Kaye, W. H., Wierenga, C. E., Bailer, U. F., Simmons, A. N., Wagner, A., & Bischoff-Grethe, A. (2013). Does a shared neurobiology for foods and drugs of abuse contribute to extremes of food ingestion in anorexia and bulimia nervosa? Biological Psychiatry, 73
(9), 836–842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.01.002
From the research article’s abstract: “Is starvation in anorexia nervosa (AN) or overeating in bulimia nervosa (BN) a form of addiction? Alternatively, why are individuals with BN more vulnerable and individuals with AN protected from substance abuse? Such questions have been generated by recent studies suggesting that there are overlapping neural circuits for foods and drugs of abuse. To determine whether a shared neurobiology contributes to eating disorders and substance abuse, this review focused on imaging studies that investigated response to tastes of food and tasks designed to characterize reward and behavioral inhibition in AN and BN. BN and those with substance abuse disorders may share dopamine D2 receptor–related vulnerabilities, and opposite findings may contribute to “protection” from substance abuse in AN.