Drunk Mice Get the Munchies

Posted on January 12, 2017

A study done on drunk mice suggest one plausible reason why people get hungry when they're drunk. Researchers from The Francis Crick Institute Mill Hill Laboratory in London explain that our desire to consume food originates in the brain. More specifically, agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons located in the hypothalamus have a key role in hunger. When they're activated in mice, the mammals seek food out immediately regardless if their stomachs are full or not. In humans AgRP neurons play a similar role where they are naturally activated when our bodies need to eat to attain more calories.

However, when alcohol is involved, it alters the natural way that AgRP is in the brain. When it is present, it alters calcium exchange, which causes AgRP neurons to fire more easily and readily. Consequently, it will cause the subject to have an impulse to eat. Thankfully, once the alcohol is flushed out of the body, its influence goes away as well and the neurons return back to a normal routine.

This study on drunk mice opens up the possibility that alcohol increases eating behaviors by affecting AgPR neurons, but more attention is needed on human subjects. People are exposed to multiple social and environmental factors that could also affect how much they eat when they're drunk. Nonetheless, it does provide a foundation for future experiments.


Source material from Scientific American