Quitting alcohol changes the brain and could increase the risk of compulsive drinking – new research in mice

For some, abstaining from alcohol can be done later Increased compulsive drinking. Our research The team found In abstaining mice, this desire to drink is preceded by changes in their functions Activity of a specific area of ​​the brainpointing to potential new screening opportunities to identify and help people most at risk of relapse.

Although abstinence from alcohol is associated with… Improving health outcomesAddiction researchers have hypothesized that brain changes that occur during abstinence may occur Increased a person’s risk of relapse.

To explore this theory, we studied how rats behaved after being given long-term voluntary access to alcohol followed by a period of enforced abstinence. We found that a subset of mice evolved Aversion-resistant alcohol intake – That is, they now drink alcohol despite the addition of quinine to make it more bitter.

Furthermore, compared to those who did not experience forced abstinence, these rats drank larger amounts of extremely bitter alcohol. These findings suggest potential physical challenges associated with abstinence that contribute to relapses in alcohol use disorder.

Next, we monitored the activity of a specific group of cells in a part of the brain known as… The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, or BNST. Researchers have previously found that this small structure is significantly involved in symptoms of alcohol use disorder such as anxiety and depression.

We found that allowing abstinent mice to return to a place where alcohol was previously available would prompt them to attempt drinking even though the spout only contained water.

These attempts were associated with activity in the BNST. Abstaining mice developed an extremely bitter taste for alcohol More than twice the activity in this area of ​​the brain compared to mice that did not experience forced abstinence.

Importantly, we saw activity in the BNST even before we gave abstinent mice access to bitter alcohol. This finding suggests that it may be possible to identify people at risk of relapse by examining BNST activity when someone is allowed to consume alcohol.

Why does it matter?

Alcohol misuse is one of the greatest public health challenges in the United States. Although this condition is associated with A wide range of Negative health effectsThe public is chronic It reduces its risk.

Alcohol-related deaths in 2024 4.5 times higher of deaths attributed to opioids. while Harm reduction — a key component of treatment for opioid use disorder — is being explored in alcohol use disorder, and abstinence remains the mainstay of most approaches to this addiction.

More than 80% of Americans People ages 12 and over consume alcohol at some point in and around their lives 10% go for the experience Alcohol use disorder. This 10% percentage represents approximately 30 million people in need of treatment.

Unfortunately, doctors are not equipped to predict who will need help. Although there is Approved treatments According to the US Food and Drug Administration for Alcohol Use Disorder, the number of people diagnosed with this condition is still very high. In fact, these numbers have Double effectively In the United States since 1999.

Developing better strategies to identify people at risk for developing an alcohol use disorder and helping them navigate treatment strategies may improve treatment.

What is still unknown

It is not clear what precise role the BNST region of the brain plays in behavior associated with alcohol use disorder. It is also not clear what drives the increase in activity, or which specific groups of brain cells within the BNST encode this activity. Obtaining these answers may lead to new therapeutic targets.

What’s the next step?

New tools in neuroscience have allowed researchers to manipulate the activity of specific neurons in the brains of mice. Using these strategies, our team is working to understand the role BNST plays in drinking alcohol despite harmful consequences.

Our colleague Jennifer Blackford He also investigates BNST activity in the brains of people with alcohol use disorder who are in early abstinence. If her team observes similar results in humans, the next step will be to conduct further testing using BNST as a screening method in clinical trials.

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Danny J. Winder He is Professor and Head of the Department of Neuroscience at UMass Chan School of Medicine and Mary Doyle He is a teacher in neuroscience at UMass Chan School of Medicine. This article was republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. Read Original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.