Drinking & “feel-good” factor.

Scientists have discovered why alcohol can make us feel good: drinking alcohol releases feel-good chemicals in an area of the human brain often referred to as the “pleasure centre”. The rush of chemicals released after drinking produce feelings of pleasure and reward. A recent study marks that endorphin release in two regions of the human brain, the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex, in response to drinking alcohol. It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good. The researchers used PET imaging (Positron Emission Tomography) to observe the immediate effects of alcohol in the brains of 13 heavy drinkers and 12 matched ‘control’ subjects who were not heavy drinkers. Drinking led to a release of endorphins in all those taking part. The more endorphins released in the nucleus accumbens, the greater the feelings of pleasure reported by each drinker. However, as levels of endorphins released in the orbitofrontal cortex went up, heavy drinkers felt more intoxicated but not those in the control group. This indicates that the brains of heavy drinkers are changed in a way that makes them more likely to find alcohol pleasant, and may be a clue to how problem drinking develops in the first place. That greater feeling of reward might cause them to drink too much. If we better understand how endorphins control drinking, we will have a better chance of creating more targeted therapies for substance addiction. Researchers say low to moderate doses of alcohol release feel-good chemicals, while high doses appear to fail to release them and may stimulate other systems in the brain leading to anxiety and depression.
And you, how do you feel today?