A recent research on the brain functions explains teenagers’ tendency to binge drink. Scientists at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry found a gene linked with problem drinking.
Many genes were suggested to be involved in influencing how much and why people drink, but scientists believe they discovered the responsible one. The study published by the PNAS journal blamed the gene known as RASGRF-2 for teenage alcohol abuse. RASGRF-2 gene appeared to be connected directly to the release of dopamine in the brain when drinking alcohol.
The reward response
Binge drinking is common among young people who think they will be more happy, joyful and content when they are drunk. The definition of binge drinking according to NHS is drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short space of time, usually drinking to get drunk.
Alcohol and medications stimulate the release of hormone dopamine, which provokes feelings of pleasure and reward. A specific genetic variation of the gene in some people makes their brain release more dopamine, which means these people are potential heavy drinkers.
Researchers discovered that mice lacking the gene had far less desire for drinks than those who had it. Even when the mouse without the gene consumed alcohol no dopamine was released, so there was no sense of pleasure.
When 663 brain scans of boys aged 14 were analyzed, results showed that when anticipating a reward in the mental test, those boys with the variation of RASGRF-2 gene had more activity in brain areas where dopamine was been released. Two years later the same group of boys was interviewed and many of them admitted they had begun drinking more frequently. These were the boys with the RASGRF-2 variation.
This confirmed the previous suggestions – people having this particular gene variation release more dopamine when ‘anticipating a reward’. Therefore, they receive more pleasure and happiness from it.
Scientists said they could now understand better the functioning of human brain, the genes role, and how all of this influenced human behavior. Lead researcher Prof. Gunter Schumann explained that although the presence of the gene was not the simple cause for binge drinking, he could answer the question why some people were more vulnerable to alcohol abuse.
