Research paper
Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Tomasi D, Baler RD. Obesity and addiction: neurobiological overlaps. Obesity Reviews. 2013;14(1):2-18. doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2012.01031.x. PMID: 23016694. PMCID: PMC4827343.
Why we cite it
A review mapping six brain systems whose dysfunction it proposes is shared between obesity and drug addiction — reward/saliency, motivation, conditioning/memory, executive function, stress reactivity, and interoception. Proposes that overeating in obesity involves dopaminergic impairments overlapping with those in substance dependence. The abstract says the conditions ”appear to share several properties”, and that the parallels ”engendered a heated debate”. It also names differences, centred on ”the key role that peripheral signals involved with homeostatic control exert on food intake”. The compassion framing is the project’s use of it. (Corrected 2026-09-19 from ”a comprehensive framework” and ”providing the neurobiological basis for treating compulsive eating with compassion rather than blame”; the debate and the differences were absent.)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2012.01031.x · PubMed 23016694 · Publisher