ice cream: my anti-drug

the centre for neuroimaging sciences just announced the results of a study indicating that yes, ice cream makes our brains very happy. participants were strapped to an fMRI machine and given vanilla ice cream:

The results showed that eating the ice cream had an immediate effect on parts of the brain that previous research has shown are activated when someone is really enjoying themselves.

the “pleasure centers” this brief article mentions are in the dopaminergic centers involved in motivation and reward that are, interestingly enough, also activated by most controlled substances.

although we enjoy being high on ice cream (or IC, as it's known on the street), the health consequences of long-term abuse include obesity and high cholesterol, as well as greater risk of disorders such as type 2 diabetes. in addition, ice cream is expensive. a ben & jerry’s pint is around $4. consuming one or two of those puppies a day can really add up and siphon money away from more beneficial uses. when resources are tight and an IC craving strikes, things can get messy. case in point, me craving ice cream when i can't have it. witnesses can testify.

and in all seriousness, addiction is also a risk. overindulgence on any substance that overstimulates reward centers can induce the main feature of addiction, motivational toxicity*, when the effectiveness of rewards normally effective in governing behavior (namely, rewards promoting survival) are diminished. you could argue that ice cream counts as a normal reward, but that seems like stretching it to me.

interestingly enough the above seem to parallel justifications for the drug war.

physiologically, activation of reward centers is identical no matter the trigger substance. so, ice cream induces the same reaction in one’s brain in areas relevant to future behavior as that of controlled substances such as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, or heroin. the only difference would be, i assume, the level of activity in the center which probably varies by drug type and potency. ice cream would, of course, be at the far bottom of the spectrum.

* motivational toxicity’s neurological substrates have not (yet) been identified. it’s commonly thought to be a decrease in dopaminergic function due to chronic use.

more about: different legal status, same physiology

Labels: neuroscience, well being