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The researchers found that certain areas of the brain became more active in both the men and women when they were tempted with food. The brain areas that lit up control emotions such as motivation.

Also, both men and women succeeded in making themselves feel less hungry by inhibiting their desire to eat the food. But the brain scans suggested that the women's brains were still acting as if they were hungry.

In other words, the women may have thought they were less hungry, but their brains didn't seem to be entirely on board.

What's going on? Hormones could play a factor in women, Wang said, because they need to eat more when they're pregnant.

The research could help scientists understand why some people can't resist certain kinds of high-calorie food, Wang said. "Some people cannot inhibit themselves, and we need to help those people."

More information

Learn more about obesity from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

SOURCES: Gene-Jack Wang, M.D., senior scientist, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., and professor, psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; Jan. 19, 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences