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. 2018 Jun 14;9:264. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00264

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Copyright © 2018 Chen, Li, Turel, Sørensen, Bechara, Li and He.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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The Triadic System of problematic eating consists of: (a) a hyper-functioning impulsive system; (b) a hypo-functioning reflective/inhibition system; and (c) an altered interoceptive awareness system. After exposure to food-related stimuli, the impulsive system generates fast, automatic, unconscious, motivation to consume the food. The reflective system, if intact, considers future outcomes of this act, and inhibits it as needed. The interoceptive awareness system acts as a modulator of the impulsive and reflective system effects; its activation excites the impulsive system and “hijacks” the cognitive resources the reflective system requires for reflecting on and inhibiting food consumption.