Illicit drugs of abuse, such as methamphetamine, can be conceptualized in economic terms as highly purified and potent consumable commodities. The progression from substance abuse to substance use disorder diagnosis involves impaired decision-making processes that results in perseverative behavior directed towards the procurement and use of the abused drug at the expense of other alternative nondrug reinforcers (e.g., job, health, or family interactions) [1]. Perseverative behavior is defined as an inability to change behavior in response to changing reinforcement contingencies that may or may not be signaled to the organism by stimuli. Improved understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of these preservative behaviors should provide insight into potential pharmacological targets for clinical intervention and treatment.

Similar to drugs of abuse, certain foods (i.e., high fat and/or high sugar) can also be categorized as highly purified and potent consumable commodities. Foods derived from plants, such as apples, contain the sugar fructose along with fiber and other macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients. However, science has discovered ways to extract sugar from nature and package it into highly purified forms such as high-fructose corn syrup. From an evolutionary standpoint, humans have evolved to defend lower limits of body weight and adiposity; however, the upper limits of body weight and adiposity are poorly defended, especially in our modern society where there is an abundance of palatable, calorically dense food. Although the concept of food “addiction” is still being debated in both the scientific and medical communities [2], there is consensus that despite the procurement and intake of food as a necessary part of survival, there is also an emotional component that involves the reinforcing or pleasurable aspects and that may have some neurobiological and behavioral homology with drugs of abuse and substance use disorder diagnosis [3].

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