Regional cerebral blood flow during exposure to food in obese binge eatingwomen

Cerebral responses elicited by the sight of food were evaluated in eight ob ese binge eating, 11 obese and 12 normal-weight non-binge eating women. Reg ional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was mapped while the subjects were looking at a picture of a landscape (control) or at a portion of food (food exposu re), and was measured by [Tc-99m]ethyl-cysteine-dimer and single photon emi ssion computed tomography. Exposure to food was associated with different c hanges in the cerebral blood flow (normalized to mean cerebellar counts) of the right and left hemispheres in the obese binge eating than in the obese or normal-weight non-binge eating women. As compared with the non-binge ea ting groups, the obese binge eating women had, due to food exposure, a grea ter increase in the cerebral blood how in the left than right hemisphere, e specially in the frontal and pre-frontal regions. In addition, strong linea r correlations were observed in this group between the rCBF of the left fro ntal and pre-frontal regions and the increase in the feeling of hunger duri ng the exposure to food. The left hemisphere and its frontal and pre-fronta l regions could thus play a role in binge eating behavior in humans. (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.