The taste of beer triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, researchers find

Apr 16, 2013 08:21 GMT  ·  By

A study published on April 15 in the scientific journal Neuropsychopharmacology documents the effects that beer can have on an individual's brain. The research claims that, alcoholic content aside, beer toys with a person's brain by triggering the release of dopamine.

Given the fact that dopamine is known to be the pleasure chemical, it need not come as surprise that just one sip of beer is almost never enough.

According to the scientists who looked into this issue, beer's ability to trigger the release of dopamine has to be linked to its taste alone.

Thus, said beverage can stimulate the brain prior to and even in the absence of the effects of alcohol intoxication, Live Science explains.

The conclusion that the taste of beer causes a person's brain to be exposed to dopamine was reached after the scientists asked a total of 49 male volunteers to sip half an ounce of beer (about 15 milliliters) over the course of 15 minutes.

Because the amount of beer given to these volunteers was fairly small, their chances of becoming intoxicated with alcohol were slim to none.

While the volunteers were busy drinking their beer, the researchers kept a close eye on what happened to their brains, and discovered that the beverage was quick in triggering a pleasurable response.

Since this pleasurable response did not occur when the volunteers were asked to drink either a sports drink or water, the researchers concluded that the release of dopamine had to be linked to the taste of beer alone.

“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,” argued David Kareken, a neuroscientist currently working with the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Apparently, men who have a family history of alcoholism experience a more poignant pleasurable response in the brain when made to drink beer.

Still, researcher Peter Anderson of the Newcastle University, U.K., wished to stress the fact that, “With regard to the family history effect, this is quite difficult to assess and know what it means so we can’t be too sure of an effect or how strong it might be.”