.png?2.1.1 "Vokash")
4 weeks ago
Researchers person identified a promising caller strategy for treating intoxicant usage upset (AUD). A caller study recovered that nan dopamine-boosting supplier tolcapone increases activity successful nan prefrontal cortex (PFC) during self-control tasks. Greater activation of nan inferior frontal gyrus, portion of nan PFC, was associated pinch amended behavioral power and reduced intoxicant consumption. The findings from this caller study successful Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier, bespeak that medications pinch a akin system could 1 time beryllium utilized to dainty AUD.
AUD is simply a devastating upset characterized by nonaccomplishment of power complete intoxicant consumption, for which existing pharmacological treatments are modestly effective. Most approved and off-label pharmacological treatments for AUD target intoxicant craving and/or intoxicant withdrawal symptoms.
We desperately request caller pharmacological treatments for AUD. Our study shifts nan attraction to 'rescuing' impaired inhibitory control, which is nan brain's expertise to extremity unwanted thoughts aliases actions, a usability often compromised successful AUD. Our study suggests that medications that summation prefrontal dopamine are an important lead to pursue."
Joseph P. Schacht, PhD, Senior Author, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine
The study progressive 64 participants pinch AUD who were randomly assigned to person either tolcapone, an FDA-approved medicine that increases dopamine successful nan PFC by suppressing catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme that degrades dopamine, aliases a placebo for 8 days. Participants completed a behavioral power task called a "stop signal" task while undergoing functional neuroimaging (fMRI), during which they had to effort to extremity themselves from pressing a fastener connected definite trials. This task reliably elicits activation of regions of nan PFC that underlie consequence inhibition. Analysis showed that tolcapone accrued activation of cortical areas implicated successful inhibitory control, arsenic assessed by nan fMRI humor oxygenation response.
Lead writer Drew E. Winters, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, notes, "Based connected erstwhile studies, we anticipated that greater inferior frontal gyrus activation would beryllium associated pinch amended behavioral control, but we were pleasantly amazed to find that it was besides associated pinch reduced intoxicant consumption. This relation validates nan value of impaired power successful nan pathophysiology of AUD."
Editor-in-Chief of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Cameron S. Carter, MD, University of California Irvine School of Medicine, concludes, "Dopamine is simply a important neurotransmitter progressive successful pleasure, motivation, reward, and power and decision-making. The findings of this study underscore nan value of targeting circumstantial encephalon circuits that govern self-control to trim problematic drinking. Future investigation should proceed to analyse nan neurobiological mechanisms of tolcapone and different cortical dopamine modulators to create much effective treatments for AUD."
Source:
Journal reference:
Winters, D. E., & Schacht, J. P. (2025). Effects of COMT suppression successful a randomized proceedings connected nan neural correlates of inhibitory processing among group pinch Alcohol Use Disorder. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.06.003.
English (US) · 
Indonesian (ID) ·