Oh, how sweet it is. Focus on "altered pontine processing in a rat model of obesity".

Abstract

Obesity is an increasing problem in the United States and is responsible for a host of associated health problems, including hypertension and diabetes. It is therefore important to identify factors contributing to overeating and consumption of unhealthy foods; taste perception and preference are obvious factors to consider. In a recent article, Kovacs and Hajnal have uncovered a relationship between obesity and taste processing in the CNS, demonstrating that obesity alters brain stem responses to sweet stimuli. There is evidence that obese people do in fact process taste differently from others, particularly with respect to their responses to sweet tastes. For example, obese people are less sensitive to sweet tastes but like them more than lean individuals (Bartoshuk et al. 2006). Differences in behavioral responses to sweet tastes also exist between populations with high levels of obesity and related maladies and the general population; African Americans (Salbe et al. 2004) and Pima Indians (Bacon et al. 1994; Desor et al. 1975; Schiffman et al. 2000) both show increased liking or preference for sweet tastes. The central mechanisms that underlie differences in both perception and the hedonics of sweet tastes between obese and nonobese individuals remain poorly understood, however.