Eating behavior varies greatly between individuals, but the neurobiological basis of these trait-like differences in feeding remains poorly understood. Central μ-opioid receptors (MOR) and cannabinoid CB₁ receptors (CB₁R) regulate energy balance via multiple neural pathways, promoting food intake and reward. Because obesity and eating disorders have been associated with alterations in the brain’s opioid and endocannabinoid signaling, the variation in MOR and CB₁R system function could potentially underlie distinct eating behavior phenotypes. In this retrospective positron emission tomography (PET) study, we analyzed [¹¹C]carfentanil PET scans of MORs from 92 healthy subjects (70 males and 22 females), and [¹⁸F]FMPEP-d₂ scans of CB₁Rs from 35 subjects (all males, all also included in the [¹¹C]carfentanil sample). Eating styles were measured with the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). We found that lower cerebral MOR availability was associated with increased external eating—individuals with low MORs reported being more likely to eat in response to environment’s palatable food cues. CB₁R availability was associated with multiple eating behavior traits. We conclude that although MORs and CB₁Rs overlap anatomically in brain regions regulating food reward, they have distinct roles in mediating individual feeding patterns. Central MOR system might provide a pharmacological target for reducing individual’s excessive cue-reactive eating behavior.

个体之间的饮食行为差异很大，但这些类似特征的进食差异的神经生物学基础仍然知之甚少。中枢 μ-阿片受体 (MOR) 和大麻素 CB ₁受体 (CB ₁ R) 通过多种神经通路调节能量平衡，促进食物摄入和奖励。因为肥胖和饮食失调与大脑阿片类药物和内源性大麻素信号的改变有关，所以 MOR 和 CB ₁ R 系统功能的变化可能是不同饮食行为表型的潜在基础。在这项回顾性正电子发射断层扫描 (PET) 研究中，我们分析了来自 92 名健康受试者（70 名男性和²²名女性）和 [ ¹⁸F]FMPEP- d _{2 次}扫描来自 35 名受试者的 CB ₁ Rs（所有男性，也都包括在 [ ¹¹ C]卡芬太尼样本中）。饮食方式采用荷兰饮食行为问卷 (DEBQ) 进行测量。我们发现较低的大脑 MOR 可用性与增加的外部进食有关——MOR 较低的人报告说更有可能响应环境的可口食物线索而进食。CB ₁ R 可用性与多种饮食行为特征相关。我们得出结论，尽管 MOR 和 CB ₁Rs 在调节食物奖励的大脑区域在解剖学上重叠，它们在调节个体喂养模式中具有不同的作用。中央 MOR 系统可能为减少个体过度提示反应性饮食行为提供药理学目标。