Gee, Ya Think?

Alcohol
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WEDNESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Alcohol can make people frisky, chatty and, as any bouncer knows, feisty.

Now, a new brain scan study shows drinking actually dampens the biological ability to feel fear.

When people drink, these lowered fear levels can lead to liquor-fueled courage that can ultimately make people more aggressive, explained study co-author Dr. Daniel Hommer.

"You're less likely to feel afraid, and you're also less likely to run away or to avoid conflict," said Hommer, chief of the section on brain imaging at the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.

Using a technology known as functional MRI, researchers scanned the brains of 12 subjects as they received alcohol or a saline solution intravenously.

All the subjects -- an average age of 26 -- were social drinkers, meaning they typically drank every week but not every day. They drank an average of 1.9 days a week and 3.6 drinks per day on the day they drank.

Seven of the subjects were women and five were men; all were healthy. Each volunteer received both alcohol or the saline solution, on two separate occasions.

The subjects looked at images of human faces. Some images had neutral expressions, while others had scary looks designed to provoke a natural fearful response.

The threatening faces "are a cue that something is dangerous going on," Hommer explained.

The fMRI scanner, meanwhile, tracked the levels of activity in parts of the brain where emotions are processed.

The researchers found that alcohol boosted activity in the parts of the brain that deal with rewards, but it also dampened activity in areas devoted to fear.

"This helps us understand a little more about how the brain works, and how alcohol functions as a drug in the brain," Hommer said.

The findings were published in the April 30 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Aaron White, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University who studies alcohol abuse, said the study is "excellent" and smartly relies on intravenously administering alcohol, a technique that allows easy adjustments of the subjects' blood-alcohol levels.

In similar studies, White added, "researchers should be able to learn a great deal about how the effects of alcohol on the brain change with both age and increasing years of use."

Other scientists could also study what happens in the brain when alcoholics and nonalcoholics look at images associated with alcohol like beer cans, bars and alcohol ads.

Hommer said researchers are thinking about other possible studies. "The one thing that might immediately be useful is that you may be able to use this as a way to test out drugs designed to decrease people's tendency to abuse alcohol."

The researchers are already testing their approach in people who are heavy drinkers to see if there is any difference in how they react to alcohol, Hommer said. "People become tolerant to some of the effects of alcohol with repeated use, and we want to see if we can see that" in the brain.

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I wonder how much money they paid for this research?
............well,they got ripped off.
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Beer muscles? Jeeze! If I had ONLY KNOWN!!
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Oh Jiminy Crackers and for Balls Sake!!! They could use the money that they spent on this study and put someone through treatment! Beer Goggles and Beer muscles always hand and hand. :-)
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I wanna know where to sign up!
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Sk...for the Goggles or the Treatment? lolol
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I ALREADY have goggles and beer muscles. I want to see if I can drink properly so they can study. I presume there will be an adequate supply?
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I imagine the only people that would take that study seriously are the normies.
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They could have just asked Me. My fees are reasonable. And the perks...
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No, Chris, we can't take percs. hahahahah I am soooo funny.
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Yes, you are funny and sharp too! I'm having a vision. Your BFF is on her way to be funnier. xoxo
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Yeah Kat where is your BFF Gordie?
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Can I sign up for this study? where? where? point the way.
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BFF must be slaving away this week. She hardly even texts me lately. I don't think she loves me any more. Or it could be because she's sick of me whining about my house buying adventures <BEG>
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Buyer's market at the moment. We have been thinking about some real estate as well. Pain in the arse but kind of fun. Especially in So Cal where everything is normally waaaaaay overpriced.
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OMG, I am never tired of your whining.....You are ALMOST as good as I am.

Yes, I am slaving away at work and whining about my new diagnosis, carpel tunnel. Hmmm, I wonder if the 500+ texts to you last month would have anything to do with my wrist hurting?

Hi gals and SKG!!
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Hey Gordie...whaz up girl? Do you have a sidekick phone? Much easier to text. LOLOLOL
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No, that has nothing to do with it. I KNOW you are just ignoring me wah wah wah.
BTW How long does it usually take for them to approve the loan? An hour? Two?
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Hi Val,

QUOTE
sidekick phone


What's that?? I'm interested....

~~sigh~~
I just saw we gained another Red lock on the Alkie board....

xoxo
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T-Mobile was the first to make it. Your number pad slides up or down depending on the one you have...and there is a tiny keyboard on it. WAYYYY easier to text or IM people. :-) I think Cingular and Motorola have versions of their own sidekicks now.

http://www.sidekick.com/