{"id":12766,"date":"2026-02-09T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=12766"},"modified":"2026-02-09T13:17:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:17:33","slug":"new-study-long-term-alcohol-consumption-transforms-the-brain-s-genetic-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/new-study-long-term-alcohol-consumption-transforms-the-brain-s-genetic-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study: Long-term alcohol consumption transforms the brain&#8217;s genetic structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"1\"><span class=\"\">Scientists at the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"1\" data-index-in-node=\"18\">Spanish Institute of Neuroscience<\/b><span class=\"\"> have determined that long-term alcohol consumption radically alters the expression of genes responsible for the brain&#8217;s <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"1\" data-index-in-node=\"172\">reward system, impulse control, and decision-making processes<\/b><span class=\"\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"2\"><span class=\"\">The study,<\/span><span class=\"\"> published in the journal <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"2\" data-index-in-node=\"36\"><i data-path-to-node=\"2\" data-index-in-node=\"36\">Addiction<\/i><\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> is based on the analysis of post-mortem brain tissue from individuals who had chronically consumed alcohol for an average of 35 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3\"><span class=\"\">The researchers focused on the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"31\">endocannabinoid system<\/b><span class=\"\">\u2014a neurobiological network that regulates pleasure,<\/span><span class=\"\"> mood,<\/span><span class=\"\"> memory,<\/span><span class=\"\"> and stress response.<\/span><span class=\"\"> The study showed that alcohol causes a serious imbalance in this system.<\/span><span class=\"\"> Specifically,<\/span><span class=\"\"> in the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"234\">prefrontal cortex<\/b><span class=\"\"> (responsible for planning and judgment),<\/span><span class=\"\"> the expression of the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"315\">CB1 receptor<\/b><span class=\"\"> gene increased by <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"346\">125%<\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> while in the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"365\">nucleus accumbens<\/b><span class=\"\"> (the reward center),<\/span><span class=\"\"> it rose by <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"415\">78%<\/b><span class=\"\">.<\/span><span class=\"\"> The CB1 receptor is directly linked to the intensification of addictive behavior and the risk of relapse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4\"><span class=\"\">In contrast,<\/span><span class=\"\"> the expression of the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"4\" data-index-in-node=\"35\">CB2 receptor<\/b><span class=\"\"> gene decreased by approximately <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"4\" data-index-in-node=\"80\">50%<\/b><span class=\"\"> in both regions.<\/span><span class=\"\"> Since the CB2 receptor has neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory functions,<\/span><span class=\"\"> its reduction indicates that the brain&#8217;s defense mechanisms against alcohol-induced damage are weakened.<\/span><span class=\"\"> The study also documented,<\/span><span class=\"\"> for the first time,<\/span><span class=\"\"> changes in the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"4\" data-index-in-node=\"344\">GPR55 receptor<\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> whose expression increased in the prefrontal cortex but sharply decreased in the nucleus accumbens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\"><span class=\"\">Additionally,<\/span><span class=\"\"> scientists discovered changes in the activity of the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"67\">FAAH enzyme<\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> which is responsible for breaking down <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"119\">anandamide<\/b><span class=\"\"> (the body&#8217;s natural &#8220;bliss molecule&#8221;).<\/span><span class=\"\"> These findings explain why individuals with alcohol dependence struggle with impulse control and why they are more vulnerable to relapse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/add.70293\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wiley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists at the Spanish Institute of Neuroscience have determined that long-term alcohol consumption radically alters the expression of genes responsible for the brain&#8217;s reward system, impulse control, and decision-making processes. The study, published in the journal Addiction, is based on the analysis of post-mortem brain tissue from individuals who had chronically consumed alcohol for an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1631,1594,1645,1587],"tags":[1791],"class_list":["post-12766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-neurology","category-news","category-psychiatry","category-research","tag-alcohol"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12771,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766\/revisions\/12771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}