Neuroscientist Seeks Origins of Alcoholism at Molecular Level

Recovering alcoholics face challenges in changing their habits, due in part to how the brain adapts to the regular presence of alcohol. A UT Dallas neuroscientist is trying to pinpoint these neurological changes and learn more about the nature of addiction.

Dr. Sven Kroener, associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to examine the synaptic changes that are present in compulsive alcoholism. Synapses are gaps between brain cells where neurotransmitters pass electrical and chemical signals from one cell to another.

He said changes in an addicted person’s brain persist beyond the initial withdrawal period.

“These persistent neuroadaptations increase … the motivation to seek rewards through alcohol,” he said. “The desire … escalates as someone tries to quit.”

Kroener will focus on changes in the medial prefrontal cortex and deficits in cognitive function associated with alcohol use.

“These deficits fuel compulsion and relapse into alcohol consumption,” he said. “We hope to find the specific synaptic mechanisms that yield these changes in the brain as it transitions from controlled alcohol-seeking to a compulsive behavior.”

Experiments will be conducted in mice and will use optogenetics, which uses light to impede the activity of neurons selectively.

“We can select neurons to ‘trap’ during the drug-taking behavior,” Kroener said. “Then, by activating or inhibiting the activity of those cells, we can see whether that influences the animals’ behavior.”

– Stephen Fontenot