What really happens in our body when we drink? We are not only talking about what you see from outside, but of everything that happens within us: beat that accelerates, heat that spreads, arms that make themselves light or heavy. New scientific research has drawn a detailed map of body sensations related to alcohol intoxication for the first timeshowing that those who perceive their body less run a greater risk of developing an addiction.
Published on Journal of Psychopharmacologythe study wanted to explore an aspect still little studied: Interceptionthat is, the ability to perceive the internal signals of our body, such as the heartbeat or the feeling of heat. According to the researcher Mateo Leganes-Fondenaau, the main author of the investigation:
Our body sensations are not a simple side effect of alcohol, but an active part of our subjective experience.
The research involved 37 adults accustomed to drinking in social contexts, all without psychiatric diagnosis or treatments for substances abuse. In two different laboratory sessions, in double blind mode, participants were administered an alcoholic drink or a placebo with an identical flavor. The amount of alcohol administered was moderate: 0.4 grams per kilo of body weight.
During each session, the subjects had to indicate on a digital figure (thanks to a tool called embody) the areas of the body where they perceived activation (such as tingling or heat) or deactivation (such as heaviness or numbness). The mappings were recorded at different times, both during the initial phase intoxication (when the alcohol content increases) both in final phase (when he begins to go down).
In addition to this, the participants compiled questionnaires about how much they felt sedated or stimulated and carried out a body awareness exercise: listening to their hearts and deciding whether they corresponded to the beat, also evaluating the trust in their response. A useful test for measuring both precision and Interceptive awareness.
The more you perceive your body, the more you feel sedate
The results showed clear and significant differences Among those who had drunk alcohol and who had taken placebo. During the ascending phase, who was in the alcohol group reported a strong activation at the level of the chest, head and arms. With the passage of time and the decrease in the effect, the sensations became lighter and widespread, and they appeared Networks of numbnessespecially in the limbs.
Those who had assumed placebo showed milder sensations, but still present, especially at the beginning: an effect linked to the power of theexpectation. It is as if the brain, used to receiving certain signals when drinking, anticipated them even without real alcohol.
But the most interesting discovery concerns the link between body sensations and mental perceptions: Whoever warns their body more intensely felt even more sedated and less stimulated. On the contrary, those who felt little or nothing, reported an unexpected feeling of energy and stimulus. This is an important fact, because previous research tells us that those who experience more stimulation and less sedation has a greater probability of developing alcohol abuse.
According to the researchers, the reason could be this: If the body does not send strong signalsor if they are not perceived, the person and could be more inclined to drink again.
Body maps reveal what the mind ignores
The heartbeat test confirmed this hypothesis: during the final phase of the intoxication, those who warn more body sensations also showed greater awareness of one’s bodymanaging to precisely evaluate whether the sounds heard corresponded to their heart. This suggests that Body and mind work together To build the experience of intoxication.
Yet even in the absence of alcohol, the only expectation can generate Intense body sensationsa discovery that opens new perspectives in understanding the placebo and brain self -deception.
All this tells us that body sensations are A sort of window on the internal state of our bodyand that ignore them or not perceive them could make us more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.
A future in which the body will help us prevent dependence?
Of course, the study has limits: the sample was reduced and the data were mediated, so it is not possible to fully evaluate the differences between the individual people. Some may feel the effects of alcohol only in certain areas, others in a completely different way.
And then there is another question: the experiment was conducted in the laboratory, a context far from real life. No music, no friends, no distraction. In social situations, body awareness could be even more reduced, and therefore even more dangerous.
Despite everything, this research represents a first concrete step towards a new vision of addiction: not only a question of willpower or behavior, but also listening and connection with your body.
The authors are already working on new studies on craving (the desire to drink) and on Postume syndrome (Hangover), with the aim of monitoring body sensations in daily life thanks to digital tools and smartphone apps. The goal? Integrate these data into therapeutic paths and prevent addictions starting from the bodyas Leganes-Fondenaau points out:
Our body speaks and, in some cases, it could be the only one to give us a signal when we are exceeding the limit.
