According to Sugarscience (2006), for some people sugar can be an addiction, and they will have cravings and withdrawal syndromes together with chemical changes in the part of their brains, which is responsible for repeating, the mesolimbic reward pathway. Scientists from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) demonstrated that sugar can cause changes in brains similar to cocaine and alcohol (Volkow and Li, 2004). People will have a higher desire for sugar intake (Avena, Rada, and Hoebel, 2008).
According to Vendruscolo, Gueye, Darnaudery, Ahmed, and Cador (2010), SOC is associated with mental health problems, and reward-related disorders. Investigating adolescent rats, Vendruscolo et al. declared that high sugar intake in adolescence …show more content…
According to Pechmann, et al., due to experience and age, the adolescent’s brain is changing, especially in the “prefrontal cortex” and “amygdala” (2005, p. 206). The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in decision-making, uses previous experience to guide behaviors, and can slow down the stimuli to encourage activity; the amygdala converts feelings into emotions that can be influenced by teenagers’ increased levels of circulating hormones (Pechmann et al., 2005). The increased levels of hormones in adolescents’ bodies make them sensitive to stressors and strong emotional responses in their environments (Pechmann et al., 2005). Pechmann et al. declared that incompletely developed prefrontal cortexes and increased hormone levels make it harder for adolescents to overbalance the amygdala’s excitatory emotional responses, which result in “low control of impulses” that is manifested in unreasonable and perilous behavior happening more often than in either adults or children (2005, p. 209). Thus, according to Pechmann et al., adolescents have less of a chance than adults to make responsible decisions, and they are more likely to feel greater emotional instability, moreover reducing their ability to control their impulses
According to Vendruscolo, Gueye, Darnaudery, Ahmed, and Cador (2010), SOC is associated with mental health problems, and reward-related disorders. Investigating adolescent rats, Vendruscolo et al. declared that high sugar intake in adolescence …show more content…
According to Pechmann, et al., due to experience and age, the adolescent’s brain is changing, especially in the “prefrontal cortex” and “amygdala” (2005, p. 206). The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in decision-making, uses previous experience to guide behaviors, and can slow down the stimuli to encourage activity; the amygdala converts feelings into emotions that can be influenced by teenagers’ increased levels of circulating hormones (Pechmann et al., 2005). The increased levels of hormones in adolescents’ bodies make them sensitive to stressors and strong emotional responses in their environments (Pechmann et al., 2005). Pechmann et al. declared that incompletely developed prefrontal cortexes and increased hormone levels make it harder for adolescents to overbalance the amygdala’s excitatory emotional responses, which result in “low control of impulses” that is manifested in unreasonable and perilous behavior happening more often than in either adults or children (2005, p. 209). Thus, according to Pechmann et al., adolescents have less of a chance than adults to make responsible decisions, and they are more likely to feel greater emotional instability, moreover reducing their ability to control their impulses