Alcohol addiction is one of the most serious and common mental health problems around the world. It affects millions of people and causes major harm not just to individuals, but to families and society as a whole.
According to the World Health Organization, alcohol use causes over 3 million deaths every year. It also plays a part in more than 5% of all diseases and health problems worldwide. This shows just how serious and widespread the issue is.
Now, scientists from the University of Warwick have made important progress in learning what causes alcohol addiction in the brain. Their research, led by Professor Jianfeng Feng and published in the journal Science Advances, has identified a specific brain network that plays a key role.
In the front of the brain, there is a part called the medial orbitofrontal cortex, or mOFC. This area helps the brain sense danger or negative situations. When the mOFC detects something bad, it sends a signal to a deeper brain area called the dorsal periaqueductal gray, or dPAG. The dPAG then helps the brain decide what to do—whether to react or escape the situation.
The research team wanted to see how this brain network works in people with alcohol addiction. To do this, they used MRI scans from 2,000 people across Europe. These people were part of the IMAGEN study, which includes participants from the UK, Germany, France, and Ireland.
During the scans, participants completed tasks that were meant to make them feel disappointed or frustrated by not receiving rewards. This allowed researchers to see how the brain reacted to negative feelings.
They found that people with a history of alcohol problems showed a clear disruption between the mOFC and the dPAG. When these people felt bad or disappointed, their brain didn’t respond in a healthy way. This change in communication between brain areas plays a big part in why some people develop alcohol addiction.
The study found two ways this brain system can be thrown off balance:
First, alcohol can dull or reduce the activity of the dPAG. When this part of the brain is less active, it doesn’t send strong signals when something bad happens.
This makes people feel mostly the pleasant effects of alcohol—like relaxation or happiness—while ignoring the negative effects. Over time, this can lead to a pattern of drinking too much without worrying about the risks.
Second, some people with alcohol addiction have an overactive dPAG. This means their brain always feels like something is wrong, or that they are in danger. For them, alcohol becomes a quick escape from constant stress or discomfort. They may drink suddenly and without thinking, just to feel better.
These findings are important because they help explain how alcohol addiction starts in the brain. By learning more about how these brain signals work, scientists hope to develop better treatments. If doctors can target this brain network, they may be able to help people stop drinking and live healthier lives.
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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