Anyone who has ever tried cannabis knows that cannabis munchies are a real thing. It’s why one of the most popular uses of medical marijuana is to increase the appetite for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, as well as those diagnosed with anorexia.

But even though it’s widely recognized that getting the cannabis munchies happens to almost everyone who uses marijuana, scientists at Washington State University recently unveiled research showing that cannabis affects a specific brain mechanism that stimulates appetite.

“The appetite promoting effects of cannabis sativa have been recognized for centuries, however, surprisingly, the biological mechanisms that underlie this process have remained largely unknown,” the researcher wrote.

The findings, published in Scientific Reports, have the potential to open doors for more precise therapeutic approaches in addressing appetite disorders affecting cancer patients, individuals with anorexia and potentially those dealing with obesity.

Research Finds Cannabis Triggers Appetite Neurons in the Brain

Researchers explored the cause of cannabis munchies through a series of experiments involving mice. They started by exposing mice to vaporized cannabis sativa. Researchers then used calcium imaging technology, akin to a brain MRI, to observe how their brain cells reacted.

The results showed that cannabis triggered a specific set of cells in the hypothalamus when the mice anticipated and consumed appetizing food – a response not observed in mice that were not exposed to cannabis. In other words, the mice got the cannabis munchies.

“When the mice are given cannabis, neurons come on that typically are not active. There is something important happening in the hypothalamus after vapor cannabis,” said Jon Davis, an assistant professor of neuroscience at WSU and corresponding author on the paper, according to Neuroscience News.

Previous researchers employed calcium imaging to investigate the brain’s responses to food. But this study marks the first instance of using this technique to comprehend the features associated with cannabis exposure.

Cannabis Munchies May Start in the Agouti Related Protein Neurons

As a part of the research, scientists also established that the cannabinoid-1 receptor, a recognized target of cannabis, regulated the activity of a well-known group of “feeding” cells in the hypothalamus known as Agouti Related Protein neurons.

Armed with this knowledge, they employed a “chemogenetic” technique, functioning like a molecular light switch, to specifically target these neurons when animals were exposed to cannabis. When these neurons were deactivated, cannabis no longer elicited an increase in appetite.

The current research builds on past experiments in the lab run by Davis at Washington State University. For example, the lab ranks among the first to use vaporized cannabis in experiments rather than injecting THC, a strategy used to better mimic how people use cannabis. Previous work from the lab had found genetic changes in the hypothalamus in response to cannabis, according to Neuroscience News.