Research
Mixed
Hedonic feedback (reward learning) and cognitive feedback (self-regulation) interact with homeostatic signals to drive food intake, often overriding satiety.
Understand that eating is not just about hunger. Hedonic cues (ads, smells) and cognitive factors (stress, social norms) drive intake. To manage weight, one must manage the environment (reduce cues) and understand that self-regulation is an effortful process that can be depleted.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Actual food intake in humans is governed by the interaction and joint function of these 3 hierarchical control systems... activation of hedonic circuits may override homeostatic satiety signals thereby facilitating eating in the absence of physiological hunger.
Why this rating
Supported by empirical evidence from brain imaging and surveys.
Source
Dynamic Interplay Among Homeostatic, Hedonic, and Cognitive Feedback Circuits Regulating Body Weight
Kevin D. Hall et al. · American Journal of Public Health · 2014
DOI 10.2105/ajph.2014.301931
narrative_reviewCited 80×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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