We've all eaten bizarre (and pretty nasty) concoctions of food during a night of drinking: sloppy burgers, a giant slice of pepperoni pizza, McDonald's chips, or every snack you can get your hands on. In other words, the drunchies. However, it turns out that, according to a new study, it may not just be because you're a hungry idiot when you're drunk (although we are all hungry idiots when we're drunk).

A new study published in Nature Communications found found that when alcohol was given to mice (can you imagine drunk little mice toddering around a maze?), they ran for snacks even when they weren't hungry. Sound familiar?

Some mice was injected once a day for three days with the mouse-equivalent of two bottles of wine. These mice ate considerably more than sober mice throughout the period. The findings were relatively surprising to lead authors Craig Blomeley and Sarah Cains, considering that alcohol is second only to fat when it comes to caloric density—and that's why it led them to believe it's all in the brain.

The researchers' findings suggest that alcohol activiates agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons, which play a role in controlling hunger. Of course, the study was only done in mice, but considering this brain circuitry is approximately the same in most mammals, the researchers highly believe this is the case.

While it's important to note that this area needs to be studied further, it makes sense that your stomach seems like a bottomless pit even after you've had several heavy pints at the bar. Mmm...pizza.

From: Esquire US