Neurons That Tell The Brain When To Stop Drinking

By activating particular neurons, we may be able to influence alcohol drinking behavior, according to new findings published by researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

The group’s prior research showed that alcohol consumption alters the physical structure and function of neurons, called medium spiny neurons, in the dorsomedial striatum. Essentially, they found that activation of one type of neuron, called D1, determines whether one drink leads to two. Now, they’ve discovered the ones that tell us to stop.

These neurons can be thought of like a tree, with many branches, and many small protrusions, or spines, coming off of them. Each neuron has one of two types of dopamine receptors—D1 or D2—and so can be thought of as either D1 or D2 neurons. D1 neurons are informally called part of a “go” pathway in the brain, while D2 neurons are in the “no-go” pathway. In other words, when D2 neurons are activated, they discourage action—telling you to wait, to stop, to do nothing.

“At least from the addiction point of view, D2 neurons are good,” said Jun Wang, MD, PhD, 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 trouble is, even in individuals without alcoholism, D2 neurons tend to become deactivated when we drink too much. This deactivation means there is nothing telling us to stop drinking, so we drink more, in a self-perpetuating cycle.

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