Mark Gold, M.D., psychiatry chairman at the UF College of Medicine and the McKnight Brain Institute. Photo by Sarah Kiewel

Some foods may be acquired tastes. But could the love of certain foods become an acquired disease?

According to Mark Gold, M.D., Dizney distinguished professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine and the McKnight Brain Institute, a growing body of scientific evidence is confirming the idea that food can actually be addictive — especially great-tasting foods.

Gold will give a special presentation called “Drugs, Addiction and the Brain” from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20, at the DeWeese Auditorium on the ground floor of the McKnight Brain Institute, 100 S. Newell Drive, Gainesville. In addition to food addiction, he will talk about secondhand exposure to medications and tobacco and the groundbreaking brain research being done at UF and elsewhere on neural mechanisms of addiction and potential cures.

The presentation is part of Brain Awareness Week, which is being recognized worldwide March 16-22 to increase public understanding of the human brain.

An international authority on addiction medicine, Gold’s work has changed the medical field’s understanding of how drugs of abuse — from tobacco to cocaine to narcotics — function in the human brain. And he has uncovered many similarities between addiction to drugs and overeating.

For more information about the presentation, call (352) 294-0400.