Airencracken
10-22-2005, 08:23 PM
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16996683%5E29677,00.html
Joint clue to munchies
Brendan O'Keefe
October 22, 2005
THE mystery of why marijuana users feel the need to consume two packets of Tim Tams, three packets of Twisties and a litre of iced coffee every time they light up has been solved.
In a study sponsored by the Australian Research Council, behavioural neuroscientist Paul Mallet and his former PhD student Aaron Verty found the part of the brain that is responsible for cannabis smokers getting "the munchies".
"An increase in appetite is a well-known side-effect of smoking marijuana," Dr Mallet said.
"However, the way in which the brain controls the hunger-inducing effect of cannabis was not well understood until now."
Dr Mallet, of the University of New England in northern NSW, says cannabis users get hungry because the drug activates receptors called cannabinoids, which trigger appetite.
"Hunger is associated with an increase in the release of cannabis-like substances produced in the brain," he said.
The research focused on the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus in the brain.
Joint clue to munchies
Brendan O'Keefe
October 22, 2005
THE mystery of why marijuana users feel the need to consume two packets of Tim Tams, three packets of Twisties and a litre of iced coffee every time they light up has been solved.
In a study sponsored by the Australian Research Council, behavioural neuroscientist Paul Mallet and his former PhD student Aaron Verty found the part of the brain that is responsible for cannabis smokers getting "the munchies".
"An increase in appetite is a well-known side-effect of smoking marijuana," Dr Mallet said.
"However, the way in which the brain controls the hunger-inducing effect of cannabis was not well understood until now."
Dr Mallet, of the University of New England in northern NSW, says cannabis users get hungry because the drug activates receptors called cannabinoids, which trigger appetite.
"Hunger is associated with an increase in the release of cannabis-like substances produced in the brain," he said.
The research focused on the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus in the brain.