‘Diet’ foods may not fool the brain
March 27, 2008 | Source: NewScientist.com news service
Duke University researchers have found that mice can detect a food’s caloric content–they prefer sugary foods even when they can’t taste sweetness.
When the sweet-oblivious mice drank sugar water, their brains produced dopamine. Calorie free–but still sweet-tasting–water sparked little dopamine production in the rodents’ brains, suggesting an innate attraction to sweet foods.