Yahoo! News - You Really May Be Addicted to That Chocolate Cake
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who say they are addicted to chocolate or pizza may not be exaggerating, U.S.-based scientists said on Tuesday.

A brain scan study of normal, hungry people showed their brains lit up when they saw and smelled their favorite foods in much the same way as the brains of cocaine addicts when they think about their next snort.

"Food presentation significantly increased metabolism in the whole brain (by 24 percent) and these changes were largest in superior temporal, anterior insula, and orbitofrontal cortices," they wrote.

These areas are associated with addiction. For instance, the orbitofrontal cortex has been seen to activate in cocaine users when they think about the drug.

The study, published in the April issue of the journal NeuroImage, may support the argument that food advertising is helping drive the U.S. obesity epidemic.

Heh heh. Maybe "I'm Lovin' It" ads should be made illegal, just like liquor and cig ads. I wonder if the same thing happens when people are presented with non-edible things such as...oh...pictures of a big pile of money, for example.