What makes alcohol so addictive?
New studies are attempting to understand the nature of addiction and how to break the cycle with help from our brains.
The University of California study included 13 people who identified themselves as heavy drinkers and 12 people who did not.
Using PET imaging, the researchers were able to measure opioid release in the brain before and immediately after the study participants drank the same amount of alcohol.
Drinking alcohol was found to be associated with opioid release in the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex — two areas of the brain associated with reward processing.
