Scientists may have found why we prefer to drink in the evening. This behavior would be motivated by a specific area of our brain.
What could be nicer than relaxing after a long week of work with a little glass of wine? If it may seem totally absurd, even unthinkable, to consume alcohol at the start of the day, the evening lends itself more to it.
According to Australian scientists, authors of a study published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, this tendency to drink more in the evening would result in an interaction between our brain and our immune system. To reach this conclusion, the scientists focused their research on the reward circuit, an area of the brain that gratifies body functions such as eating, drinking or sleeping.
“Alcohol remains the most widely consumed narcotic in the world. It is therefore becoming urgent to understand how our biological mechanisms dictate our alcohol needs,” explained Professor Jon Jacobsen, professor at the University of Adelaide and lead author of the study.
A way to fight against chronic alcoholism
Carried out on mice, the study consisted of administering a dose of alcohol to these small rodents. Some of them also received Naltrexone, an opiate antagonist used as a treatment for chronic alcoholism. By observing the immune reactions of the mice, the researchers were able to observe that the behavior towards alcohol decreased significantly in the mice which received naltrexone, in particular in the evening, a time of day when the reward circuit is the most requested.
“Blocking this specific part of the brain, which itself is linked to the immune system, helps to lower the mice’s motivation to consume alcohol in the evening”, concludes Jon Jacobsen. The scientist sees in these results an encouraging avenue for treating alcohol addiction and underlines the interest of conducting similar research on cohorts of humans.
Europe: 1st alcohol consumer in the world
In the world, it is in Europe that we drink the most, as revealed by a report from United European Gastroenterology (UEG) unveiled last July. With 9 liters of pure alcohol consumed per year and per person, Europe ranks far ahead of the American continent (7.2 l) and the Western Pacific region (5.1 l), with a score almost twice as high than the world average (4.7 l). France, it exceeds the average with 11.3 l.
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