Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep01:24

Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep

Substance use disorders involve a pattern of using drugs more extensively than intended and continuing use despite harmful consequences. This includes legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, as well as illegal drugs. These disorders often involve both physical and psychological dependence, reflecting compulsive use of substances that significantly alter thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, contributing to a major public health issue.
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena01:15

Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena

Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily...
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine01:27

CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine

Ethanol, a clear colorless alcohol, has been consumed by humans for millennia, but its effects on the body are far from benign. At lower doses, it induces decreased inhibitions and loquaciousness, leading to its social appeal. However, it can cause severe consequences at higher doses, such as coma and respiratory depression, due to its zero-order elimination kinetics. Chronic ethanol abuse wreaks havoc on multiple organ systems, particularly the CNS and the liver. Abrupt cessation of ethanol...
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping02:05

Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping

People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
Drug Dependence01:17

Drug Dependence

Medications are typically administered to achieve therapeutic effects. Some drugs can modify an individual's mood and perception, frequently resulting in various enjoyable experiences. However, this can result in drug dependency, a condition marked by continuous drug use despite potential negative consequences. Drug dependency primarily falls into two categories: psychological and physical dependence. Psychological dependence occurs when the pleasurable feelings induced by the drug...
Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning01:15

Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning not only includes the initial pairing of stimuli but also extends to more complex forms, such as higher-order conditioning. Higher-order conditioning involves creating associations beyond the primary conditioned stimulus, resulting in a chain of conditioned responses.
Higher-order, or second-order, conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an already established conditioned stimulus through repeated pairings. For instance, if a dog has been...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Multimodal Psychophysiological Assessment of Craving in Patients With Alcohol Dependence During Virtual Reality Cue Exposure: Exploratory Single-Arm Clinical Study.

JMIR serious games·2026
Same author

Bullying victimization and brain development: a longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging study from adolescence to early adulthood.

Translational psychiatry·2026
Same author

Neurocognitive characterization of behaviour and mental illness through time-varying brain network analysis.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Sex-specific impact of repeated adolescent vapour exposure to JWH-018 on dopamine response, behaviour and pharmacokinetics across adolescence and adulthood.

British journal of pharmacology·2025
Same author

Addressing mental health challenges in clinical practice: a qualitative study to investigate perspectives of international mental health experts.

European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience·2025
Same author

Habitual Drug Intake Is Hard to Change: On the Discussion About Habits and Compulsions in Drug Addiction.

Addiction biology·2025
Same journal

Correction to "Learning Mechanisms in Alcohol Use Disorders".

Addiction biology·2026
Same journal

Abnormal Brain Structural Covariance Networks of Cortical Thickness in Cocaine Use Disorder.

Addiction biology·2026
Same journal

The Orexin System Modulates Stress-Induced Alcohol Preference and Reinstatement in Adolescents: Bioinformatics and Experimental Evidence.

Addiction biology·2026
Same journal

Predicting Outpatient Follow-Up Retention After Inpatient Treatment in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Data-Driven Random Forest Approach.

Addiction biology·2026
Same journal

Correction to "Virtual Reality-Based Cue Exposure and Aversion Therapy for Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial".

Addiction biology·2026
Same journal

Investigating Bidirectional Causal Relationships Between Imaging-Derived Brain Phenotypes and Sedative-Hypnotic Use Disorder: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Addiction biology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
05:12

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder

Published on: June 23, 2023

Learning Mechanisms in Alcohol Use Disorders.

Andreas Heinz1,2, Selin Icoez3,4, Yvonne Treusch5

  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Addiction Biology
|June 16, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Alcohol use disorders involve learning mechanisms that drive intake despite negative outcomes. Understanding how alcohol affects learning can improve treatments and reduce addiction stigma.

Keywords:
alcohol use disordersbehavioural interventions in addictiondopamine dysregulationneuroadaptation in addictionreward learning mechanisms

More Related Videos

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
13:24

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

Published on: September 19, 2014

Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice
07:31

Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice

Published on: January 7, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
05:12

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder

Published on: June 23, 2023

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
13:24

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

Published on: September 19, 2014

Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice
07:31

Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice

Published on: January 7, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Addiction Research

Background:

  • Pavlovian and operant learning mechanisms are fundamental to behavior, including substance use.
  • Chronic alcohol consumption can alter brain reward systems, influencing learning and decision-making processes.
  • These alterations contribute to the initiation and maintenance of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and relapse risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence on how alcohol intake modifies basic learning mechanisms in humans during AUD development and maintenance.
  • To explore the role of neuroadaptive changes in the brain reward system in biasing behavior towards alcohol consumption.
  • To discuss implications for psychotherapeutic and neurobiological interventions for AUDs.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing scientific literature on learning mechanisms and alcohol use disorders.
  • Analysis of neurobiological and neuroimaging studies examining the effects of alcohol on learning and decision-making.
  • Discussion of the robustness and limitations of current research techniques.

Main Results:

  • Chronic alcohol intake modifies Pavlovian and operant learning, reinforcing drug-seeking behavior.
  • Neuroadaptive changes in the brain reward system bias learning towards alcohol consumption.
  • These learning biases contribute significantly to relapse after detoxification.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding alcohol's impact on learning mechanisms is crucial for developing effective interventions for AUDs.
  • Focusing on how alcohol affects basic learning can help destigmatize addiction.
  • Personalized behavioral and neurobiological interventions tailored to individual learning mechanisms are recommended.