Topic: alcohol consumption

Circadian clock gene expression in various midbrain areas plays a central role in the regulation of behavior, including reward-related processes, affective states, and motor functioning. Specifically, recent work has revealed a sex-specific effect of Bmal1 expression in the striatum on voluntary alcohol consumption in mice: suppression in males and augmentation in females. Interestingly, Bmal1 expression in the nucleus accumbens, a striatal subregion known for its role in mediating reward processes, inhibits alcohol consumption in both males and females, thus indicating that other striatal sub

Epidemiological studies have long acknowledged that only a minority of the population is at risk of losing control over alcohol consumption. Aiming at identifying the roots of this vulnerability, ongoing evidence from our laboratory revealed a significant vulnerability to lose control over alcohol consumption in male Wistar rats subjected to a chronic mild unpredictable stress (CMUS) during adolescence. This excessive alcohol seeking behaviour correlated with significant changes in the gut microbiota composition. Most importantly, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) from resilient to vulner

Administration of ethanol activates the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, resulting in elevated corticosterone release in adulthood (see Barney et al., 2022; Willey et al., 2012). This response could depend on the subjects' degree of ethanol exposure (see Barney et al., 2022). On the other hand, sex differences have been described in the response of the HPA axis associated with alcohol consumption (Retson et al., 2015). Taking this background into account, in the present research we examine possible sex differences in ethanol-induced plasma cortisol levels in adult Wistar rats with differen

Social drinking is one of the most common reasons for drinking among young people. Excessive alcohol consumption alters affective and reward brain function, and entails risks for mental health problems. To understand of the effect of early social drinking on real-life and neural reward functions is of particular importance. 378 community-based young healthy social drinkers (13 to 28 years) took part in a 7-day Ecological momentary assessment protocol using GPS-triggered smartphone-based e-dairies with 9 to 23 prompts per day to rate momentary affective well-being. Only self-identified current