Kent Berridge

Abstract

What brain reward systems mediatemotivational 'wanting' and hedonic 'liking' for food rewards? And what roles do those systems play in eating disorders? I will survey recent findings regarding brain mechanisms of hedonic 'liking', such as identification of cubic-millimeter hedonic hotspots in nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum for opioid amplification of sensory pleasure. I will also consider brain 'wanting' or incentive salience systems important to appetite, such as mesolimbic dopamine systems and amygdala-accumbens opioid motivation circuits that extend beyond the hedonic hotspots. Finally, I will consider some potential ways in which brain reward systems for 'wanting' and 'liking' food might relate to eating disorders.

Biography

Kent Berridge is Professor at the University of Michigan in the Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience.