https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-circuit-involved-in-compulsive-drinking-identified-in-mice/

A defining characteristic of alcoholism is compulsive drinking despite negative consequences. Thirty percent of Americans experience clinically defined alcohol use disorder (AUD) at some point in their lives. More than half recover, but that still leaves millions of people struggling with lifelong alcoholism in the U.S. alone. “Alcohol use disorders and excessive drinking kills more people than opiates,” says neuropharmacologist Kimberly Nixon, of the University of Texas at Austin. “People tend to forget that.”

Most people do not develop AUD, even if they drink heavily, or binge, but little is known about the factors that determine vulnerability to long-term compulsive drinking. A new study, led by pharmacologist Cody Siciliano of Vanderbilt University and neuroscientist Kay Tye of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, describes a neural circuit that controls compulsive drinking in a mouse model. Activity in this circuit predicts weeks in advance which mice will go on to keep drinking despite negative consequences when given the chance. As well as identifying a brain-based “biomarker” for susceptibility to compulsive drinking, the study reveals a potential new target for the development of therapeutics for AUD, and possibly substance use disorders in general.