Alcohol and drugs rewire your brain by changing how your genes work – research is investigating how to counteract addiction’s effects

Image: CT scan of a human brain (nothing strange was found). Image credit: Department of Radiology, Uppsala University Hospital. Uploaded by Mikael Häggström to Wikimedia. Article by Karla Kaun. The Conversation – January 22, 2024.

Many people are wired to seek and respond to rewards. Your brain interprets food as rewarding when you are hungry and water as rewarding when you are thirsty. But addictive substances like alcohol and drugs of abuse can overwhelm the natural reward pathways in your brain, resulting in intolerable cravings and reduced impulse control. […]

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