Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most serious mental health problems in the world today.
It affects millions of people and causes a lot of suffering for individuals, families, and communities.
According to the World Health Organization, over 3 million people die each year because of alcohol. It also contributes to over 5% of all health problems around the world.
Scientists at the University of Warwick have made an important discovery about how alcohol addiction works in the brain.
Their research, led by Professor Jianfeng Feng, was published in the journal Science Advances. The study found that a specific brain network involved in detecting danger may play a major role in why people become addicted to alcohol.
At the front of the brain is a part called the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC). This part helps us sense bad or emergency situations.
When it finds something negative, it sends a signal to another part of the brain called the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), which is deeper inside the brain. The dPAG then decides if we should do something to escape or avoid the situation.
To explore this system, the researchers studied brain scans from about 2,000 people in a large international project called IMAGEN, which included people from the UK, Germany, France, and Ireland.
These people did certain tasks during brain scans. The tasks were designed to make them feel disappointed by taking away rewards. This helped the scientists see how their brains reacted to negative emotions.
They found that people who had a history of alcohol abuse had weaker communication between the mOFC and dPAG when they felt these negative emotions. This weak connection may lead to alcohol addiction because it changes how the brain deals with stress or bad feelings.
The researchers also discovered two different ways this brain circuit can become unbalanced, both of which increase the risk of addiction. One is when alcohol dulls the dPAG response.
When this part of the brain is less active, a person may not feel the full effects of danger or harm. Instead, they only feel the pleasant effects of alcohol, like relaxation or happiness. This makes them more likely to keep drinking without thinking about the risks.
The second way is when the dPAG becomes overactive. In this case, people may constantly feel like they are in a stressful or unpleasant situation. To escape these feelings, they may turn to alcohol as a fast way to feel better. This can lead to drinking on impulse and becoming dependent.
This study helps us better understand what’s happening in the brain when someone develops alcohol addiction. It shows that certain brain pathways may drive the urge to drink, especially in people who feel overwhelmed by negative emotions.
Knowing this may help scientists and doctors develop better treatments that target these brain areas and help people regain control over their drinking.
Understanding the brain’s role in alcohol use disorder is a big step forward. With this knowledge, we may be able to help more people avoid or recover from alcohol addiction in the future.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about cannabis use disorder linked to increased risk of mental diseases and some mental health drugs can cause rapid weight gain.
For more health information, please read studies that one sleepless night can reverse depression for days and scientists find better treatment for older adults with depression.
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