Amygdala hyperactivation relates to eating behavior: a potential indicator of food addiction in Prader-Willi syndrome

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder involving nutritional, endocrine /metabolic, emotional and behavior dimensions. There is evidence for impaired hypothalamic development and function in PWS, involving oxytocin and ghrelin, which can account for the typical PWS phenotype. Hyperphagia with addiction-like behavior is one of the common features of PWS and is a consequence of the hypothalamic dysfunction. In this study, we hypothesized that brain regions associated with compulsive eating behavior would be abnormally activated by food-related odors in PWS, as these can stimulate the appetite and induce hunger-related behavior