Stressed-out rats consume more alcohol, revealing related brain chemistry
Monday, November 7, 2016 - 04:51
in Health & Medicine
Rodents that had been exposed to stress had a weakened alcohol-induced dopamine response and voluntarily drank more alcohol compared to controls, a new study has found. The blunted dopamine signaling to ethanol arose due to changes in the circuitry in the ventral tegmental area, the heart of the brain's reward system.