Summary: New mouse research indicates a shared brain circuit may help explain why heavy alcohol use and intense cravings for high‑fat “junk” foods often occur together.
Source: APS
Researchers presenting at the American Physiological Society annual meeting report that overlapping neural circuitry could underlie both binge eating of high‑fat foods and binge alcohol consumption.
Scientists from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine tested the idea that obesity and alcoholism — two prevalent chronic conditions in the United States — may be behaviorally and neurologically linked. Their work builds on earlier studies showing that alcohol engages brain regions involved in reward and motivation, the same areas that can drive overeating of palatable, high‑fat foods.
To explore this connection, the team observed feeding and drinking behaviors in three groups of early adult male mice over an eight‑week period. Each group experienced different patterns of access to a high‑fat diet and an alcohol solution, designed to model continuous versus limited access and to mimic binge‑like consumption:
- High‑fat diet group: continuous, unrestricted access to a high‑fat diet combined with limited access to an alcohol solution (four hours per day, four days per week).
- Normal diet group: standard laboratory chow with the same limited access schedule to the alcohol solution as the high‑fat group.
- Binge diet group: limited access to the high‑fat diet (with normal chow available outside access periods) together with the limited access schedule for the alcohol solution, modeling intermittent binge exposure to palatable food and alcohol.
During the experiment the concentration of alcohol offered in the beverage was increased gradually from 10% to 20% over the eight weeks. All animals retained free access to plain drinking water at all times.
Results showed a distinct pattern in the binge diet group. Mice with intermittent access to high‑fat food displayed cycles of pronounced weight gain followed by loss that aligned with episodes of binge eating. During their limited access windows, these animals preferred the alcohol solution and consumed more alcohol than water, indicating a strong shift toward binge drinking behavior. By contrast, the other two groups—the continuous high‑fat diet group and the normal diet group—consumed less alcohol than the binge diet mice under the same access conditions.
These findings suggest that restricting access to palatable, high‑fat foods can promote binge‑like eating patterns in mice, and that those binge patterns are associated with an increased propensity to binge on alcohol when it is available. The investigators propose that the same neural circuits that drive overconsumption of high‑fat foods may also be recruited during excessive alcohol intake, creating a behavioral and neurobiological link between the two behaviors.
The study authors emphasize that this mouse model may be especially valuable for studying the intersection of diet, reward, and alcohol use. Given recent increases in rates of binge drinking and obesity in the U.S., models that replicate co‑occurring binge behaviors could help researchers identify the neural mechanisms and potential intervention targets for both disorders.
While the research provides a compelling preclinical perspective, the team cautions that long‑term outcomes and direct translation to humans require further study. Animal models can reveal underlying circuits and behavioral relationships, but human patterns of alcohol use and dietary behavior are shaped by additional social, environmental, and biological factors not captured in this experiment.
Source:
APS
Media Contacts:
Anne Frances Johnson – APS
Image Source:
The image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Caitlin Coker, a PhD candidate at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, presented the study titled “Cross‑sensitization to binge alcohol intake following binge intake of palatable diets” as part of the symposium “Effects of diet on emotion and motivated behavior.” The presentation was delivered on April 8 during Experimental Biology 2019 in Orlando.