MCCHE Precision Convergence Webinar Series with Paul Thagard
What is desire, and why do drugs like Ozempic reduce It? Bridging computational biology and psychology
By Paul Thagard
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Waterloo
Date: December 3, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Online
Abstract
People have an abundance of wants, wishes, and cravings, concerning food, drink, sex, sleep, success, power, wealth, freedom, happiness, love, relationships, security, meaning, alcohol, drugs, and so on. People who start GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic commonly report a reduction in their desire for food, and some also report lower desire for alcohol, opiates, and sex. Explaining these reductions requires a theory of desire. This talk proposes a novel theory of the brain mechanisms that control desire, filling in a crucial gap in understanding how GLP-1 drugs work. Integration of biological and psychological mechanisms is the key to explanation of why such treatments help people. I build on my NBC theory of consciousness and Chris Eliasmith鈥檚 Semantic Pointer Architecture to propose a novel theory of desire, based on the neural mechanisms of representation, binding, coherence, and competition. Desires combine representations of what is desired, time, and valuations based on embodied needs and activation in the brain鈥檚 hedonic hotspots such as the nucleus accumbens. GLP-1 drugs reduce desire for food by influencing embodied needs and hedonic hotspots. Insights will be discussed for scientific, technological and societal development enabled by the proposed formal theoretical framework.
