Want to keep a tab on unlimited boozing? Train your brain to comply

Have you often wished to have a switch that could just stop you from binge drinking? Well, you just might, as researchers have identified a circuit between two regions of our brain that can control alcohol binge drinking.

Have you often wished to have a switch that could just stop you from binge drinking? Well, you just might, as researchers have identified a circuit between two regions of our brain that can control alcohol binge drinking.

The two brain areas, the extended amygdala and the ventral tegmental area, have been implicated in alcohol binge drinking in the past. However, this is the first time that the two areas have been identified as a functional circuit, connected by long projection neurons that produce a substance called corticotropin releasing factor, or CRF for short.

If you can stop somebody from binge drinking, you might prevent them from ultimately becoming alcoholics, say researchers.

The study, conducted by a team from the University of North Carolina, provides the first direct evidence in mice that inhibiting a circuit between two brain regions protects against binge alcohol drinking.

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“It’s very important that we continue to try to identify alternative targets for treating alcohol use disorders,” Thiele said. “If you can stop somebody from binge drinking, you might prevent them from ultimately becoming alcoholics. We know that people who binge drink, especially in their teenage years, are much more likely to become alcoholic-dependent later in life.”

The study appears in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

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