People mad about food must have brain disorder
By Owen Morris in News
Wednesday, Jan. 21 2009 @ 2:01PM
The right anterior cerebral hemisphere, probably thinking about foie gras or something else delicious.
Unless you're a neurosurgeon, chances are you don't mention the right anterior cerebral hemisphere very much in daily conversation. Yet, if you love food, especially fine food, that part of the brain holds the key. This according to two scientists from a university hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, who completed a paper showing people who suffer lesions in this part of the brain become obsessed with food, a "preference for fine eating" and Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals. (OK, I made up the last one.)
It's called Gourmad Syndrome and besides creating an increase in the grocery bill, it seems to be a benign disease.
The study is a dozen years old but is getting attention because it's linked to a 10-year-old epileptic boy who became obsessed with
food. According to the boy's doctors, who published his story in Epilepsy Behavior, he "displayed an eating passion as described for the gourmand syndrome (GS)
in adults and discuss the role of epilepsy in GS. This patient
presented with a significant change in his eating habits (abnormal
preoccupation with the preparation and eating of fine-quality food.)"
Since the study's publication, more than 30 Swiss have been diagnosed with GS. This leads them to not just appreciate fine food but have "addictionlike cravings for their taste, an inordinate interest in their appearance, a savoring of trips to shop for ingredients, and delight in the memory of particular restaurant experiences."
I don't remember being dropped on my head (is loss of memory a sign?), but I consider myself a brother in arms of people with GS. I'd really like to reach out to GS sufferers and talk to them, perhaps over a nice meal.
Since the study's publication, more than 30 Swiss have been diagnosed with GS. This leads them to not just appreciate fine food but have "addictionlike cravings for their taste, an inordinate interest in their appearance, a savoring of trips to shop for ingredients, and delight in the memory of particular restaurant experiences."
I don't remember being dropped on my head (is loss of memory a sign?), but I consider myself a brother in arms of people with GS. I'd really like to reach out to GS sufferers and talk to them, perhaps over a nice meal.
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