Science Advances reveals the mechanism behind alcohol addiction

A small group of nerve cells in the brain determines whether a person continues to drink, even if it has a negative effect

Marcus Helig said: "We found that a small group of nerve cells in a small area of ​​the brain is the difference between being able to brake in a normal way like most of our mice, and not being able to stop by itself

An important aspect of addiction is that only a few people who drink alcohol become addicted

Decisions are complicated, such as whether to have another drink or hold back

The first step in finding the molecular mechanisms behind compulsive drinking is to identify the vulnerable few individuals who may use these mechanisms

In order to identify nerve cell populations related to compulsive drinking, the researchers used a marker formed after neural activity

In their now published study, the researchers found a small group of nerve cells in the center of the amygdala, pkc δ-positive nerve cells, which promoted the drinking of a small number of vulnerable mice, despite the negative consequences

"I didn't expect such a small group of nerve cells to play such a decisive role in this complex behavior

New results from other researchers suggest that humans and other animal species can also be divided into two groups based on their ability to prevent reward-seeking behavior when negative consequences are possible

"We must understand that the inability to prevent harmful behaviors is an important risk factor, and once addicted, it will be maintained

The Swedish Research Council and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation provided financial support for this research

DOI 10.

A neural substrate of compulsive alcohol use