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Faye Prior | 2014-05-16 04:34:18
Being an animal lover, I’m not usually one to be interested in animal research, but when I learnt of one such study involving them enjoying alcoholic beverages every day, over the drink drive limit, despite having a hangover (like some people I know), I wasn’t going to miss it.
These alcohol indulgent animals taught us something about how our brain might regulate our alcohol habits.
Previous research has suggested that a region of our brain called the lateral habenula regulates our motivation to engage in behaviours such as smoking and drinking. When this region is activated, if you were to experience a horrid hangover, it would try to encourage you to refrain from this activity in future.
Indeed, when the lateral habenula was deactivated, the alcohol intake quickly escalated, having a few too many than they should have, indicating that they weren’t learning from their previous behaviour because of the inactivated habunela. In contrast, the control animals with an activated habenula learnt their lesson and consumed much less alcohol.
This research is still in its early stages, but is beginning to provide insights in to the mechanisms of alcohol use disorders.
Faye Prior (Researcher)
Source
Haack, A., Sheth, C., Schwager, A., Sinclair, M., Tandon, S. et al. (2014). Lesions of the Lateral Habenula Increase Voluntary Ethanol Consumption and Operant Self-Administration, Block Yohimbine-Induced Reinstatement of Ethanol Seeking, and Attenuate Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion. PLoS One, Published April 2nd, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092701.
Image: https://flic.kr/p/6V2WDz