“The munchies,” or the urge to eat large amounts of food after getting high on marijuana, is so common a symptom of the drug’s use that it has almost become a joke. But it’s also common enough that there should be something pretty consistent going on in the brains of pot users. So we got mice high to figure out what was going on.

A new study published in the journal Nature has now found a major clue in what brings on the binge. It has to due with a chemical change in neurons firing in the “animalistic” part of your brain, as I explain in the video below:

And no, researchers weren’t filling mouse cages with joints. The cannabinoids were injected directly into the animals to ensure consistent dosage. Must have been one of the less stressful days being a lab rat.

—

IMAGE: Medical Marijuana by Scott Beale

STUDY: Hypothalamic POMC neurons promote cannabinoid-induced feeding