Food reward can be driven by separable mechanisms of hedonic impact (food 'liking') and
incentive motivation (food 'wanting'). Brain mu-opioid systems contribute crucially to both
forms of food reward. Yet, opioid signals for food 'liking'and 'wanting'diverge in anatomical
substrates, in pathways connecting these sites, and in the firing profiles of single neurons.
Divergent neural control of hedonic and motivational processes raises the possibility for joint
or separable modulation of food intake in human disorders associated with excessive eating …