BNST Activity More Than Doubles Before Relapse-Like Drinking in Abstaining Mice
Updated
Updated · The Conversation · Aug 14
BNST Activity More Than Doubles Before Relapse-Like Drinking in Abstaining Mice
3 articles · Updated · The Conversation · Aug 14
Summary
Abstaining mice showed BNST brain activity before they regained access to alcohol, and some later resumed compulsive drinking despite quinine making the alcohol increasingly bitter.
More than double the BNST activity appeared in abstinent mice that developed aversion-resistant drinking versus mice without forced abstinence, linking the signal to relapse vulnerability rather than alcohol exposure alone.
Reentering the place where alcohol had been available also drove abstinent mice to try drinking from a water-only spout, suggesting the brain changes were tied to alcohol-seeking behavior itself.
The findings point to BNST activity as a possible screening marker for relapse risk in alcohol use disorder, though researchers say the circuit's exact role and the cells driving it remain unclear.
The work targets a major public-health problem: around 10% of Americans develop alcohol use disorder—nearly 30 million people—and U.S. alcohol-use deaths in 2024 were 4.5 times opioid deaths.