据10月9日的《科学》杂志报道说，承蒙多巴胺受体基因之惠，脑子对某一可口奶昔的反应可以帮助解释为什么有些人会体重增加，而其他人则能维持瘦的状态。
在对年轻女性进行的某一新的研究中，一种特别的多巴胺D2 受体基因可以帮助研究人员预测在第一次品尝测试实验之后长达一年的时间内体重的增长情况。脑子的背侧纹状体会释放神经递质多巴胺以作为对进食所做出的反应，而多巴胺释放量与食物所带来的快感程度相对应。但是在肥胖的人中，这一多巴胺反应由于其体内多巴胺受体较少而似乎变得迟缓，也许由此而导致人们过多地进食以弥补快感的下降。
Eric Stice 及其同僚应用脑成像技术观察女性对巧克力奶昔或一种模拟唾液的“无味道溶液”的反应。在品尝测试期间，肥胖者的背侧纹状态较不活跃，而携带A1 型纹状体多巴胺D2 受体基因者对奶昔的反应最为迟钝。研究人员发现，带有A1 基因的妇女同时也最有可能在紧接着的一年时间中体重有所增加。（生物谷Bioon.com）
在响应巧克力奶昔相对与无味时，该大脑图表显示BMI与背纹状体内较弱激活相关。
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Science 17 October 2008: 449-452.
Relation Between Obesity and Blunted Striatal Response to Food Is Moderated by TaqIA A1 Allele
E. Stice, S. Spoor, C. Bohon, and D. M. Small
The dorsal striatum plays a role in consummatory food reward, and striatal dopamine receptors are reduced in obese individuals, relative to lean individuals, which suggests that the striatum and dopaminergic signaling in the striatum may contribute to the development of obesity. Thus, we tested whether striatal activation in response to food intake is related to current and future increases in body mass and whether these relations are moderated by the presence of the A1 allele of the TaqIA restriction fragment length polymorphism, which is associated with dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene binding in the striatum and compromised striatal dopamine signaling. Cross-sectional and prospective data from two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies support these hypotheses, which implies thatindividuals may overeat to compensate for a hypofunctioning dorsal striatum, particularly those with genetic polymorphisms thought to attenuate dopamine signaling in this region.
