Researchers studying alcohol- and cocaine-addicted rats found that when the rats believed there was no alcohol available, they stopped craving it, even when triggered by stimuli.
They believed there was no alcohol available because of a signature citrus scent; scientists had trained the rats to know that the scent represented the unavailability of their drug of choice. When the rats smelled it, the part of their brain associated with craving didn’t light up when it typically would have.
The first implication is that people might be able to reduce their cravings for alcohol by removing alcohol from their lives (e.g., staying away from everywhere it is sold, not having it at home, not budgeting for it, not going to parties, etc.). Especially early on in quitting, it can help to have fewer cravings (you’re at your most vulnerable early on). If alcohol is unavailable, apparently we might want it less.
The second is that there may be a way to train the human brain to believe alcohol is unavailable (even when it is) with a cue similar to what the rats got - a scent, a food, an image. It’s an obvious next step for the research, and we look forward to seeing what they find!
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