Do You Know When To Stop?

Scientists found that Dopamine D2 receptors, which tell us to stop drinking, are deactivated when we drink too much.

17:25 12 July 2016

A new study has shed the light why no one ever seems to go for “just one drink.”

 

Scientists found that the human brain contains particular neurons, called D2, that tell us to stop drinking. However, these neurons are deactivated when we start to drink too much alcohol. The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine study said that this deactivation means we drink more, in a self-perpetuating cycle.

 

The researchers hope the findings can help in the formulation of specific targeted treatment.

 

'At least from the addiction point of view, D2 neurons are good,' said Jun Wang, the corresponding author on the paper and assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine.

 

'When they are activated, they inhibit drinking behavior, and therefore activating them is important for preventing problem drinking behavior.' 

 

The findings are backed by the study conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) that found alcohol consumption alters the physical structure and function of neurons in the dorsomedial striatum.