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Hey, Bartender! Another Half Ounce Please
Current mood:  thirsty
Category: Pets and Animals
It may not be so bad after all, being a lab mouse.
"Boozing mice 'get the blues' on abstinence"
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory.php?action=fullnews&id=793
"Researchers
led by Clyde Hodge of the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill found
that those mice who voluntarily drank moderate amounts of alcohol
displayed depression-like behaviour when they were put off from alcohol.
A significant drop was also seen in the number of brain cells in the hippocampus - a region linked to memory and mood.
"The number of new neurons fell by 40 per cent, and that's a lot," The New Scientist quoted Hodge, as saying."
Um, let's back up a second... "mice who voluntarily drank moderate amounts of alcohol".
Voluntarily? Did they raise their little paws and hail the
bartender? Are free dry bread crumbs left out to drive up
beverage sales? Were there Jager-mice in skimpy furs handing out
flashing buttons??
We really need more detail.
And just to give us a little more of a buzzkill, they try to dissuade us from keeping up the buzz.
"Hodge
said that with these results, there is a hope for a possibility of
better treatment for abstinence-related depression in alcoholics.
However, he cautioned that this should not mean that it is a justification for continuing to drink in order "to feel better"."
I
understand that they tried to perform this research on human subjects
many times at Ohio State. But they could never get a control
group to remain sober for two weeks at once.
12:46 PM
2 Comments
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