The more alcohol the lab mice consumed, the more excitable the D1 neurons became, eventually requiring less dopamine to fire. Thus, a vicious cycle is created - booze consumption makes a neuron more sensitive, which in turn increases the craving to drink.After making this discovery, the researchers wanted to dig deeper and see what would happen in the brain if specific neurons were blocked. In this case, the mice were given a drug to partially block the D1 receptor, which significantly reduced the desire to drink.
"If we suppress this activity, we're able to suppress alcohol consumption," said Jun Wang, the study's lead author and assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at Texas A&M. "This is a major finding. Perhaps in the future, researchers can use these findings to develop a specific treatment targeting these neurons."
By better understanding the way addiction forms in the brain, researchers will have the potential to create more effective cures for it. "My ultimate goal is to understand how the addicted brain works," Wang says. "And once we do, one day, we'll be able to suppress the craving for another round of drinks and ultimately, stop the cycle of alcoholism."