Stress almost always alters eating behavior, particularly in the context of high calorie foods with low nutritional value. However, the direction of the response is inconsistent, with consumption increased in some individuals (called emotional eating or stress eating) but decreased in others. The determinants of these responses to stress are unknown. There is strong evidence of genetic contributions to disordered eating behaviors, but findings with specific gene variants are inconsistent. We developed a mouse model that reliably elicits stress-related increases in caloric intake in wild-type C57BL/6J males and females. We are using this paradigm to explore how genetic factors influence this behavior in mice carrying a common gene variant, Brain derived neurotrophic factor-Val66Met (hBDNF-Met), which has been associated with increased risk of anorexia nervosa in some cohorts.