How do we drink despite consequences: Exploring the hypothesis that the Insula instigates AUDs

Compulsive alcohol intake, where drinking continues despite negative social, legal and physical consequences, is a major obstacle to treating alcohol use disorders. There is particular interest in identifying circuits and molecules which drive compulsive intake, which could help develop novel therapeutic interventions. Activity in the anterior Insula cortex (aINS) during alcohol or drug cues predicts future intake and relapse in humans, and thus we hypothesize that aINS regulates activity across other brain regions, which together promotes compulsion.
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research