Beer: Just A Taste Excites Male Brain

In a causal relationship that perfume merchants have been trying to create for more decades, just one small sip of a beverage–yes, beer–triggers the release of dopamine, one of the brain’s most powerful happy-making chemicals. The BBC reports on research, conducted at Indiana University, where scientists compared the effects of spraying water, a sports drinks and the participant’s favorite beer. Each of 49 men was given 15ml of fluid over 15 minutes, so small an amount that alcohol in the beer would have no effect on the body, yet the researchers found that more dopamine was released in the brain after beer than after the water or sports drink, and after the beer the men were more likely to say they wanted to have an alcoholic drink. The bad news? The tiny drink of beer showed a greater effect in people with a family history of alcoholism. Read the study here.