Chapter 4 - Habitual overeating

Abstract

There is considerable evidence for pathological habitual overeating in disorders characterized by compulsive eating behavior, a transdiagnostic construct that describes some forms of obesity, binge eating disorder, and “food addiction.” Tests of habitual overeating, such as persistence of responding despite outcome devaluation, show that humans with these disorders and animal models of compulsive eating display accelerated habit formation. Cues that are repeatedly associated with palatable food, such as restaurant logos, environments, and food smells, have the ability to shift the balance of behavioral control from goal-directed toward habitual responding. Habit in compulsive eating can be linked with altered function of specific striatal systems (e.g., dorsolateral striatum). Habit in compulsive eating shares both behavioral and neurobiological similarities to habit in alcohol- and substance-use disorders.