Research paper
Johnson PM, Kenny PJ. Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like reward dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats. Nat Neurosci. 2010 May;13(5):635-641. doi:10.1038/nn.2519. Epub 2010 Mar 28. PMID: 20348917. PMCID: PMC2947358.
Why we cite it
An experimental demonstration in rats that overconsumption of palatable food triggers addiction-like neuroadaptive responses resembling those seen with drugs of abuse. Two headline findings: (1) rats with extended cafeteria diet access developed a progressively worsening reward deficit, with striatal D2 receptors downregulated, ”similar to previous reports in human drug addicts”; and (2) these rats kept eating palatable food in the presence of a light that had been paired with footshock, where chow-only and restricted-access rats ate less. Knocking down striatal D2R ”rapidly accelerated” the reward deficits and the onset of compulsive-like food seeking in rats with extended access: acceleration within the model, and the paper does not claim causation. Relevant to the project as an animal model. That it explains why some people cannot stop eating hyperpalatable foods through willpower is this library’s extrapolation from rats, not the paper’s claim. (Corrected 2026-09-10 from ”The landmark”, ”identical to changes in human drug addicts”, ”continued eating despite foot shock — the behavioral hallmark of compulsive addiction”, ”The lentivirus D2R knockdown established causation, not just correlation” and ”provides the neurobiological explanation for why some people genuinely cannot stop eating”. Verification depth had corrected the stimulus and the causal claim on 2026-09-03; this section had not followed.)