Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice
Published on: January 7, 2019
Translational studies of alcoholism: bridging the gap
Natalie M Zahr1, Edith V Sullivan
1Natalie M. Zahr, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at SRI International, Menlo Park, California, and a research scientist with professor Edith V. Sullivan, Ph.D., who is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Abstract:
Human studies are necessary to identify and classify the brain systems predisposing individuals to develop alcohol use disorders and those modified by alcohol, while animal models of alcoholism are essential for a mechanistic understanding of how chronic voluntary alcohol consumption becomes compulsive, how brain systems become damaged, and how damage resolves. Our current knowledge of the neuroscience of alcohol dependence has evolved from the interchange of information gathered from both human alcoholics and animal models of alcoholism. Together, studies in humans and animal models have provided support for the involvement of specific brain structures over the course of alcohol addiction, including the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, amygdala, hippocampus, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena

