The tenured university lecturer of the Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences of the University of Monash in Melbourne (Australia) will talk about to what extent the sugar and the fat create addiction. The abundance of high caloric and attractive food and the increase of the obesity rate have popularised the concept ‘addiction to food’.

In this conference, the researcher will present the studies that they conduct about the cerebral image while attempting to decide between high caloric food, which is unhealthy, and less caloric options which are healthier. These researches show how the brain react to these dilemmas and how the body weight and the hunger regulate the cerebral activity which predict our less healthy decisions. These results will be useful to encourage the debate about whether the brain can make us become ‘addicted to food’ and to think about the ethical and social implications linked to the use of this concept.

About Antonio Verdejo García

Doctor in Psychology from the Granada University (2006) and Master’s Degree in Psychologic and Biomedical Aspects of Health and Illness (2002). He currently works as a tenured university professor at the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia) and Deputy Researcher of the Addiction Treatment Centre (Melbourne, Australia). His research focuses on cognitive and brain mechanisms of addiction and obesity. Verdejo has published more than 180 scientific articles including publications in PNAS, Biological Psychiatry or Addiction.

About the Escola Europea de Pensament Lluís Vives

The Escola Europea de Pensament Lluís Vives (http://www.escoladepensamentlluisvives.com) is a cultural project boosted by the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality of the UV, with the management of the General Foundation of the UV, which is configured as a space for reflection and open, participatory and critical debate about current issues at world level and also for the Valencian society. Moreover, the Escola counts on the participation of other people from the Public administration and civil society: The President of the Valencian government, the City Hall of Valencia, the Valencian Department of Transparency and Education, Research, Culture and Sports, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, the Alfons el Magnànim Institute, the Escola Europea d’Humanitats and the Caixa Popular.