Common Biological Mechanisms of Alcohol Use Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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The Role of Stress, Trauma, and Negative Affect in Alcohol Misuse and Alcohol Use Disorder in Women
Drinking Over the Lifespan: Focus on Early Adolescents and Youth
In describing patterns of alcohol use among early adolescents (ages 12–14) and youth (ages 15–20), there is both good news and bad news. The good news is that research findings with U.S. national epidemiology data from long-term annual surveys of high-school students, such as the Monitoring the Future surveys, have indicated historical shifts toward overall decreases in levels of alcohol use...
A person with alcoholism engages in risky or dangerous drinking despite experiencing serious negative physical and social consequences. Such persistence in pursuing damaging behaviors suggests that the short-term “appetitive” results of drinking (such as intoxication and losing one’s inhibitions) have greater control over the alcoholic’s behavior than do the negative consequences. From a...
Epigenetics—Beyond the Genome in Alcoholism
Alcohol is one of the most widely used addictive drugs, and continued use and abuse can lead to the development of tolerance and dependence (Koob 2003a; Tabakoff et al. 1986). Numerous studies have shown that both genetic and environmental risk factors play a role in the development of alcoholism (Ducci and Goldman 2008; Edenberg and Foroud 2006; Farris et al. 2010). Genetic studies in both humans...
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH): Also known as corticotropin, is a hormone produced and secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. It is an important component of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and often is produced in response to biological stress (along with corticotropin-releasing factor from the hypothalamus). Its principal effects are increased production and release of...
Effects of Alcohol Dependence and Withdrawal on Stress Responsiveness and Alcohol Consumption
Although stress is known to be an important contributing factor to alcohol abuse and alcoholism, the interaction between stress and alcohol drinking behavior, as well as the mechanisms underlying this interaction in the context of dependence are complex and not well understood. On the one hand, alcohol is an effective anxiety-reducing agent (i.e., anxiolytic). Hence, motivation for drinking may be...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are members of a vast, evolutionarily ancient, but poorly understood class of regulatory RNA molecules, termed non–protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). This means that in contrast to RNA molecules generated during gene expression (i.e., messenger RNA [mRNA] molecules), they are not used as templates for the synthesis of proteins. ncRNAs are encoded within the genomes of both eukaryotic...
Stress and the HPA Axis: Role of Glucocorticoids in Alcohol Dependence
Stress, generally defined as any stimulus that disrupts the body’s internal balance (i.e., physiological homeostasis), has long been suggested to be an important correlate of uncontrolled alcohol consumption or relapse to drinking following a period of abstinence. Large epidemiological studies have reported that a variety of stressors are associated with increased alcohol consumption and binge...