Alcohol, the Brain, and Behavior: Mechanisms of Addiction

The actions of alcohol that cause intoxication, initiate and maintain excessive drinking behavior, and promote relapse during abstinence occur primarily in the brain. A thorough understanding of alcohol’s effects on the mechanisms underlying brain function is essential to develop and improve alcoholism prevention and treatment strategies. This article is not an exhaustive overview of alcoholism neurobiology, but a sampling of the more significant recent advances in the field.