The taste of beer
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Just a taste of beer can affect a person’s brain, according to a study at Indiana University School of Medicine. Researcher David Kareken looked at brain imaging data on 49 men who got a taste of beer – too little for the alcohol to create a high -- and checked for evidence of the reward-related brain chemical dopamine.
“The mere taste of beer, absent any significant dose of alcohol, was itself sufficient to produce a dopamine response within the brain’s reward centers.”
Kareken noted beer’s flavor would be reliably associated with its intoxicating effects. In this case, the taste alone triggered a jump in dopamine levels. The response was significantly stronger among those with a family history of alcoholism.
The study in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
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HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.