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The Relationship Between Junk Food and Our Memories

Research found memories of fatty foods in our hippocampus intensify our cravings.

10 min readMay 26, 2025
Photo by Adrian Infernus on Unsplash

We’ve learned a lot as a species, like, a lot. Yet, we have no idea how much we don’t know. For instance, we’ve discovered a considerable amount about how we work — our anatomy, biology, sociology, and psychology — but countless mysteries remain. Still, as technology and thus science advances, researchers are chipping away at these mysteries.

Recently, a team of international scientists has deciphered a key component of one of our more elusive relationships — not with each other or ourselves, but with food. More precisely, the scientists identified a direct link between our metabolism and memory for the first time ever via specific neurons dedicated to forming food-related memories that drive our eating behavior.

Our Relationship with Food

We all have a personal relationship with food. Some are healthier than others, but we all have foods we like and don’t like, meals that bring comfort, and specific items we crave.

These days, we have an abundance of food, so much that we can binge eat just because we’re bored. As Guillaume de Lartigue, a medical biochemist at Monell Chemical Senses Center, an…

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Katrina Paulson
Katrina Paulson

Written by Katrina Paulson

I write about recent discoveries that have the power to shift our perspectives. Check it out! --> https://curiousadventure.substack.com

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