Novel approaches to alcohol rehabilitation: Modification of stress-responsive brain regions through environmental enrichment

Neuropharmacology
Terence Y PangAndrew J Lawrence

Abstract

Relapse remains the most prominent hurdle to successful rehabilitation from alcoholism. The neural mechanisms underlying relapse are complex, but our understanding of the brain regions involved, the anatomical circuitry and the modulation of specific nuclei in the context of stress and cue-induced relapse have improved significantly in recent years. In particular, stress is now recognised as a significant trigger for relapse, adding to the well-established impact of chronic stress to escalate alcohol consumption. It is therefore unsurprising that the stress-responsive regions of the brain have also been implicated in alcohol relapse, such as the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and the hypothalamus. Environmental enrichment is a robust experimental paradigm which provides a non-pharmacological tool to alter stress response and, separately, alcohol-seeking behaviour and symptoms of withdrawal. In this review, we examine and consolidate the preclinical evidence that alcohol seeking behaviour and stress-induced relapse are modulated by environmental enrichment, and these are primarily mediated by modification of neural activity within the key nodes of the addiction circuitry. Finally, we discuss the limited clinical evidence that stres...Continue Reading

Citations

Dec 21, 2018·Journal of Neural Transmission·Marcello SolinasNathalie Thiriet
Mar 31, 2020·Nicotine & Tobacco Research : Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco·Isabel Cristina Weiss de SouzaAna Regina Noto
Mar 27, 2018·Psychopharmacology·Erin J CampbellChristina J Perry
Feb 23, 2021·Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy·Kirsten C MorleyPaul Haber
Apr 15, 2020·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·Murilo S de AbreuAllan V Kalueff
May 29, 2021·Neuropharmacology·Daniel D Cooper, Bruno G Frenguelli
Nov 14, 2021·Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research·Samuel W CentanniDanny G Winder

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