Women’s Brains Can’t Resist A Snack Attack as Well as Men’s

Yesterday’s post (below) showed the usefulness of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in exploring brown fat metabolism. Now here’s another discovery that made use of this technique. Do you know why women have more trouble resisting hunger impulses than men? An explanation is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Twenty-three volunteers (13 women, 10 men) were trained, using a cognitive inhibition technique, to decrease their hunger – so-called voluntary inhibition. They were asked about their favorite foods, and then fasted overnight. The next day they had PET/CT scans while they were presented with their favorite food.

In men, but not in women, the food stimulation together with voluntary inhibition led to decreased activation in 5 parts of the brain – parts that are involved in emotional regulation, conditioning, and motivation. The men also reported less hunger. In women, on the other hand, there was no decrease in the relevant brain activity, even though they said they were less hungry. As the head researcher put it: “Even though the women said they were less hungry when trying to inhibit their response to the food, their brains were still firing away in the regions that control the drive to eat.”

This gender difference in brain physiology may explain why the obesity rate is higher in women. Maybe women are “hard-wired’ to eat whenever food is available, because of their traditional role in providing for their children. That’s a pretty good excuse for them, anyway.