News Release - Cognitive, genetic clues identified in imaging study of alcohol addiction
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Public release date: 25-Dec-2007

People with clinical addictions know first-hand the ravages the disease can take on almost every aspect of their lives. So why do they continue addictive behaviors, even after a period of peaceable abstinence"

Some answers appear rooted in regions of the brain active during decision making.

"It's perhaps not just that people are slaves to pleasure, but that they have trouble thinking through a decision," said Charlotte Boettiger, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and lead author of a study in the December issue of the Journal of Neuroscience that took a novel tack in addiction imaging research.

"Our data suggest there may be a cognitive difference in people with addictions," Boettiger said. "Their brains may not fully process the long-term consequences of their choices. They may compute information less efficiently."

The study also found that a variant of the COMT gene, which controls the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the cortex, was associated with a tendency to make impulsive decisions and with high activity in certain brain areas during decision making.
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