Beer taste triggers reward chemical
Source: AFP |
April 16, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE taste of beer, even without any effect from alcohol, triggers a key reward chemical in the brain, according to a study that explores how people become hooked on booze.
Neurologists at the University of Indiana asked 49 men to drink either their favorite beer or Gatorade, a non-alcoholic sports drink, while their brains were scanned by positron emission tomography. The goal was to look at dopamine, a chemical in a part of the brain called the ventral striatum that gives the sensation of reward.
The beer was rationed out in tiny amounts, about one tablespoon every 15 minutes, so that the brain could be scanned without the influence of alcohol. Just a taste of the beer lit up dopamine receptors, and the effect was far greater than for Gatorade, even though many volunteers said they preferred the taste of the soda.
The dopamine effect was significantly greater among volunteers with a family history of alcoholism, the neurologists reported yesterday.
"We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain's reward centers," said David Kareken, who led the experiments.
Neurologists at the University of Indiana asked 49 men to drink either their favorite beer or Gatorade, a non-alcoholic sports drink, while their brains were scanned by positron emission tomography. The goal was to look at dopamine, a chemical in a part of the brain called the ventral striatum that gives the sensation of reward.
The beer was rationed out in tiny amounts, about one tablespoon every 15 minutes, so that the brain could be scanned without the influence of alcohol. Just a taste of the beer lit up dopamine receptors, and the effect was far greater than for Gatorade, even though many volunteers said they preferred the taste of the soda.
The dopamine effect was significantly greater among volunteers with a family history of alcoholism, the neurologists reported yesterday.
"We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain's reward centers," said David Kareken, who led the experiments.
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