Title: A Scientific Explanation of How Marijuana Causes the Munchies  | Science   | Smithsonian Magazine
Headings: A Scientific Explanation of How Marijuana Causes the Munchies
A Scientific Explanation of How Marijuana Causes the Munchies
THC appears to increase our sensitivity to scents and flavors by using naturally occurring neural networks to convince the brain that it’s starving
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Content: The one aspect that ties together these disparate mechanisms is that they all involve the brain's natural endocannabinoid systems. THC—and, by consequence, marijuana—does much of its work by manipulating the same pathways that the brain uses to normally regulate the senses. But perhaps most interesting is that the new study hints at a compelling metaphor for the way THC manipulates this natural system: it mimics sensations felt when we're deprived of food. As a final test, the researchers forced some mice to fast for 24 hours, and found that this drove up levels of natural cannabinoids in the olfactory lobe. Not surprisingly, these starved mice showed greater scent sensitivity and ate much more too. Most intriguing, the genetically engineered mice with olfactory lobes that lacked cannabinoid receptors did not show increased scent sensitivity or appetite even when they were starved. This indicates that both THC and the natural cannabinoids that result from starvation are acting on the same neural pathway to allow us to smell and taste with greater sensitivity, and thus eat more. In other words, THC appears to give us the munchies by convincing our brains that we're starving. Tags
Health Hunger Marijuana Medicine Neuroscience
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