Researchers asked 28 male beer drinkers (24±2 years of age, who consumed 16±10 drinks per week) from their previous study to participate in a similar fMRI design in which subjects tasted their most frequently consumed brand of beer during one scan and Gatorade during a second scan.
Both types of imaging (that reflecting dopamine release, and that showing brain activation) showed that tasting a favorite beer (compared to the Gatorade) elicited a response in the right side of the ventral striatum. Moreover, the fMRI responses in both the ventral striatum and the middle/inferior part of the frontal lobe corresponded with self-reports of wanting beer and having a desire to drink. In short, the results support the idea that the right ventral striatum may hold special importance for addiction research on craving.
Journal Link: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research