Scientific finding could be key to alcoholism cure

Scientists have discovered a group of neurons in the brain that heighten cravings for alcohol when “excited” and could hold the key to a cure for alcoholism.

A group of neurons in the brain could hold the key to curing alcoholism, scientists claim

The data comes following a study by researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

They discovered that alcohol consumption alters the structure and function of neurons in the dorsomedial striatum – a part of the brain known to be a key factor in “goal-driven behaviour”.

“Alcoholism is a very common disease,” commented Jun Wang, lead author of the paper and an assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. “But the mechanism is not understood very well.”

The team of scientists used an animal model to show that alcohol changes the physical structure of medium spiny neurons, which are the main type of cell in the striatum.

Each have one of two types of dopamime receptors – D1 or D2 – with D1 encouraging certain behaviour and D2 discouraging and telling the brain to wait, stop and do nothing.

The research showed that large amounts of alcohol act on D1 neurons to make them more “excitable” and as a result they activate with less stimulation.

“If these neurons are excited you will want to drink alcohol,” said Wang. “You’ll have a craving.

“When you drink alcohol, long-term memory is enhanced, in a way. But this memory process is not useful – in fact, it underlies addiction since it affects the ‘go’ neurons.

“Even though they’re small, D1 receptors are essential for alcohol consumption.

“My ultimate goal is to understand how the addicted brain works, and once we do, one day, we’ll be able to supress the craving for another round of drinks and ultimately stop the cycle of alcoholism.”