A new Yale study shows the brain responds to taste and calorie counts in fundamentally different ways. And only one of these responses explains why most New Years’ resolutions have already disappeared under a deluge of Boston Crème Pies. It’s the brain’s desire for calories – not sweetness – that dominates our desire for sugars.
“It turns out the brain actually has two segregated sets of neurons to process sweetness and energy signals,” said Ivan de Araujo of the John B. Pierce Laboratory. “If the brain is given the choice between pleasant taste and no energy, or unpleasant taste and energy, the brain picks energy.”
Both sweet taste and nutrient value register in the striatum, an ancient region of the brain involved in processing rewards...
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