A cortical-brainstem circuit predicts and governs compulsive alcohol drinking

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aay1186
• Publication Date: 2019-11-26T00:40:51Z
• Authors: Cody A. Siciliano; Habiba Noamany; Chia-Jung Chang; Alex R. Brown; Xinhong Chen; Daniel Leible; Jennifer J. Lee; Joyce Wang; Amanda N. Vernon; Caitlin M. Vander...; Eyal Y. Kimchi; Myriam Heiman; Kay M. Tye
• Keywords: Male; Neurons; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Alcohol Drinking; Quinine; Prefrontal Cortex; Binge Drinking; 3. Good health; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Neural Pathways; Compulsive Behavior; Animals; Periaqueductal Gray; 10. No inequality; Brain Stem

A brain circuit to control alcohol intake

Most people are exposed to alcohol at some point in their lives, but only a small fraction will develop a compulsive drinking disorder. Siciliano et al. first established a behavioral measure to assess how predisposition interacts with experience to produce compulsive drinking in a subset of mice (see the Perspective by Nixon and Mangieri). In search of the underlying neurobiological mechanism, they discovered that a discrete circuit between the medial prefrontal cortex and brainstem is central for the development of compulsive drinking. This circuit serves as both a biomarker for the development of compulsive drinking and a driver of its expression. It can bidirectionally control compulsive behavior by mitigating or mimicking punishment signals.

Science , this issue p. 1008 ; see also p. 947