Study Identifies Brain Circuits Linked to Complusive Drinking in Rats, May Have Implications for Alcoholism in Humans

Scientists at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, have found processes in rats’ brains that compel them to drink compusively. These processes likely play a role in humans also. Researchers at the Gallo Clinic and Research Center (which coincidentally is named for the wine magnate) were able to reduce the rats’ compulsive drinking by blocking the neural pathways running along the prefrontal cortex, the brain region that handles critical thinking and risk assessment, and the nucleus accumbens, the brain region associated with motivation and reward. Click here to read the full story.