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+--- Thread: "Happy Chemical" Discovered In Beer? - Neuroskeptic (/thread-4322.html)
"Happy Chemical" Discovered In Beer? - Neuroskeptic - C C - Oct 9, 2017
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2017/10/07/happy-chemical-beer/
EXCERPT: It was reported that scientists from Germany have discovered that a molecule in beer called hordenine activates dopamine receptors in the brain, and thus produces a positive mood. [...] The German researchers, Sommer et al., are chemists, not neuroscientists. They used computational simulations to model whether 13,000 known ‘food-derived’ molecules would bind to the D2 receptor. The hordenine molecule was predicted to fit the receptor, and follow-up experiments showed that it does indeed bind to it, suggesting possible psychoactive properties.
But Sommer et al. didn’t study whether hordenine actually exists in beer in sufficient amounts to have any effect. They didn’t consider whether it can even reach the brain after oral consumption....
MORE: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2017/10/07/happy-chemical-beer/