A recent study led by researchers at the University of Warwick has identified a brain network involved in alcohol addiction. The findings suggest that alcohol dependence is linked to an imbalance in the brain’s response to danger, affecting a person’s ability to recognize and escape harmful situations.
At the center of this discovery is the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), a part of the brain that detects unpleasant or threatening situations. This area sends signals to another region called the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), which processes whether a person should react to danger by escaping.
The study found that people are more likely to develop alcohol addiction when this brain pathway becomes disrupted in two key ways:
Compulsive Drinking: Alcohol suppresses the dPAG, preventing the brain from recognizing negative signals. As a result, a person may only feel the benefits of drinking without noticing its harmful effects. This lack of response to danger may contribute to compulsive drinking.
Impulsive Drinking: People with alcohol addiction often have an overactive dPAG, making them feel like they are constantly in an unpleasant or stressful situation. This can lead to impulsive drinking as they seek immediate relief from distress.
The research team had previously observed similar patterns in animal studies, where these brain regions played a role in alcohol dependence. To confirm this in humans, they analyzed MRI brain scans from the IMAGEN dataset—a research project involving 2,000 participants from the UK, Germany, France, and Ireland.
Participants underwent functional MRI scans while performing tasks. When they failed to receive rewards (leading to negative emotions), those who had a history of alcohol abuse showed greater disruption in the connection between the mOFC and dPAG.
This suggests that alcohol addiction may be linked to how the brain processes negative experiences and stress.
Alcohol addiction is one of the most widespread and severe mental health disorders. According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 million deaths each year are linked to alcohol use, and harmful drinking contributes to over 5% of the global burden of disease.
By understanding how alcohol dependence forms in the brain, researchers hope to develop better treatments and interventions for those struggling with addiction.
The study was published in Science Advances and led by Professor Jianfeng Feng.
If you care about alcoholism, please read studies that your age may decide whether alcohol is good or bad for you, and people over 40 need to prevent dangerous alcohol/drug interactions.
For more information about alcohol, please see recent studies about moderate alcohol drinking linked to high blood pressure, and results showing this drug combo shows promise for treating alcoholism.
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