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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Can even just a bit of beer get the dopamine going? David A. Kareken, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the IU School of Medicine and the deputy director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center, thinks so.
Dr Kareken and his team used positron emission tomography (PET) to test 49 male participants with two scans, one in which they tasted beer and the second, Gatorade. In these scans, researchers were looking for proof of increased levels of dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter.
During the experiment, participants received 15 mL of their preferred beer over a 15-minute time period, tasting the beer without resulting in any detectable blood-alcohol level or intoxicating effect.
With PET scanning compound that targets dopamine receptors in the brain, the researchers were able to assess changes in dopamine levels after the participants tasted the liquids. The scans following beer tasting showed higher dopamine activity.
"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 centres," said David A. Kareken, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the IU School of Medicine and the deputy director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center.
Furthermore, the scans of those with a history of alcoholism in the family were significantly greater. This could be taken to mean that the release of dopamine in response to alcohol-related cues may be an inherited risk factor for alcoholism, said Dr. Kareken.