How eating affects mood

Abstract

IOAKIMIDIS I, M. ZANDIAN, F. ULBL, C. BERGH, M LEON, AND P. SÖDERSTEN. How eating affects mood. PHYSIOL BEHAV 2011 (000) 000-000. We hypothesize that the changes in mood that are associated with eating disorders are caused by a change in eating behavior. When food is in short supply, the rhythm of the neural network for eating, including orbitofrontal cortex and brainstem, slows down and we suggest that this type of neural activity activates a partially overlapping neural network for mood, including dorsal raphe serotonin projections to the orbitofrontal and prefrontal cortex. As a consequence, people who restrict the amount of food that they consume, either by choice or by their limited access to food, become preoccupied with food and food-related behavior. Most eating disorders emerge from a history of dietary restriction and we suggest that disordered eating consequent upon food restriction produces the altered mental state of patients with eating disorders. Based on the present hypothesis, eating disorders are not the result of a primary mental disorder. Rather, this notion suggests that the patients should be treated by learning to eat an appropriate amount of food at an appropriate rate.