Getting their name from the hormone that enables communication with other neurons in the brain orexin neurons have been shown to play key roles in drug addiction. Some key systems of eating disorders like the sense of losing control overlap with knowledge of the driven nature of drug addiction.
Rutgers Brain Health Institute researchers fed female rats either a high fat sugar diet designed to trigger weight gain and binge eat, or a control diet. Animals were then subjected to tasks in which they needed to work to earn the reward of sweet food. As amount of work required to earn treats increased it was observed that only the animals that had developed binge eating patterns and gained weight would display persistent motivation to earn the treats. When treated with orexin blockers it was observed that the animals consumed less during binge eating episodes, even with unlimited access to sweetened food for 30 minutes.
Pharmacological treatments are limited to eating disorder patients currently, this possible therapy could expand treatment options for obese individuals with binge eating disorder.
