We’ve been amazed since starting Drinker’s Helper to learn about some of the new research into alcohol addiction. It’s clear that this space is evolving quickly, with a lot of interest from governments and educational institutions, and there is a steady stream of new ideas to help people recover from any level of addiction to alcohol.
In catching up with some of last year’s biggest findings, we stumbled across this amazing find from research into the drinking behavior of mice.
It’s been clear for a while that drinking problems have their origin in the brain (one person was famously purported to be cured of his addiction to alcohol through removal of problematic pieces of his brain).
But this study found that:
You could predict which mice would become compulsive drinkers by seeing how their brains reacted to their first drink
The compulsive drinker mice had problems in communication between two regions of the brain: one involving behavioral control and another involving response to “adverse events”
They could use light to turn on or off the relevant parts of the brain, and saw that doing so cured the mice of their behavioral problem
We found this encouraging because it could lead to new medicines that target these areas of the brain. It confirmed that drinking problems are in our heads, and that adjusting the connections in our brains (through therapy or another method) is a great way to change. It’s not clear that addiction in humans works the same way, but it’s a promising start.
If you’re looking to cut back or quit drinking, we’d love to help. Drinker’s Helper is an app that provides motivational exercises, drink tracking and insights into why you drink, and a support group of your peers to help you make needed changes. Try it free for a week before joining!
