Scientists claim to have made a major breakthrough in understanding the reward centre of the brain which could explain why some people find it simply impossible to resist temptation.
Researchers at Dartmouth College, found activity levels in a part of the brain known as the the nucleus accumbens allowed them to accurately predict people’s eating and sexual behavior.
Female volunteers were shown pictures of food as well as erotic images and landscapes while their brains were scanned using MRI imaging to monitor their reactions.
The 48 women, who had no idea what the study was about, returned six months later and were weighed and asked to fill out a questionnaire.
Subjects whose whose brains reacted strongly to the food pictures were found to have gained more weight while those who reacted to sexual images were more likely to have had sex and report stronger sexual urges.
