Got Brain Fog? Here’s How Alcohol Affects Your Dopamine and Reward System

Alcohol increases dopamine levels while removing the brain’s built-in brake system that limits dopamine receptivity. Dopamine is a critical part of the brain that helps control movement, pleasure, attention, mood, and motivation. It is one of the most ancient neurotransmitters as it is found in lizard brains, too. Too much dopamine can lead to euphoria, aggression, and intense sexual feelings.

However, in larger doses, alcohol typically causes sluggishness, disorientation, and slower reaction times, as it decreases your mental sharpness, blood pressure, and heart rate. It slows down your nervous system, blood pressure, and heart rate, leading to mental fogginess, drowsiness, and lack of coordination. After the initial stimulant effects, alcohol slows down your central nervous system, decreasing your blood pressure, heart rate, and mental clarity (3). Initial doses of alcohol signal your brain to release dopamine, the so-called “happy hormone,” which can cause you to feel stimulated and energized (3). Some people think of alcohol as a stimulant that can increase your heart rate, give you energy, and decrease your inhibitions.

Dopamine D2/3 autoreceptor sensitivity was decreased in chronic alcohol self-administering male macaques

Acutely, in vivo alcohol administration dose-dependently increases cortical, mesolimbic, and nigrostriatal dopamine in rodents [36]; an effect attributed to enhanced dopamine neuron firing [37]. However, in rodent and macaque brain slices, an acute alcohol challenge following chronic alcohol exposure (inhalation or drinking) decreases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in vivo and ex vivo preparations [24, 38]. Beyond the NAc, chronic alcohol exposure has varied effects on dopamine release that are brain region and species dependent. Throughout the striatum, dopamine release is generally decreased following chronic alcohol use or treatment. In contrast to the dorsal striatum, dopamine release in the NAc is increased following chronic alcohol use in male cynomolgous macaques [22, 24].

Highly palatable sweet, fatty, and salty foods and alcohol are just some of the many things that produce an incredibly quick reward. Plus, we have such easy access to them, which is what makes them so addictive. On top of its essential role as a chemical in the brain, how does alcohol affect dopamine dopamine also acts as a hormone. It’s made by the adrenal gland, just like epinephrine and norepinephrine – the hormones that act behind your fight, flight, or freeze response. Basically, dopamine is involved in almost every area of your thought and reward system.

Just The Taste Of Alcohol Triggers Dopamine Release

To achieve the same effect, however, this administration route requires higher alcohol doses than does alcohol injection directly into the blood. Dopaminergic neurons produce dopamine from the dietary amino acid tyrosine. The neurons then store the dopamine in small compartments (i.e., vesicles) in the terminals of their axons. For the study, researchers recruited 26 healthy social drinkers (18 men, 8 women), 18 to 30 years of age, from the Montreal area. The higher-risk subjects were then identified based on personality traits and having a lower intoxication response to alcohol (they did not feel as drunk despite having drunk the same amount). Finally, each participant underwent two positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan exams after drinking either juice or alcohol (about 3 drinks in 15 minutes).

When discussing the consequences of alcohol’s actions on the brain, researchers frequently use terms such as motivation, reinforcement, incentives, and reward. Dopaminergic neurons reach not only the NAc, but also other areas of the extended amygdala as well as parts of the septo-hippocampal system. Consequently, dopamine acts at multiple sites to control the integration of biologically relevant information that determines motivated responding. Alcohol has such a wide variety of effects, affecting the parts of your brain that control speech, movement, memory, and judgment.

Alcohol in Your Body

Dopamine is a neuromodulator that is used by neurons in several brain regions involved in motivation and reinforcement, most importantly the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Dopamine alters the sensitivity of its target neurons to other neurotransmitters, particularly glutamate. In addition, dopamine can affect the neurotransmitter release by the target neurons. Dopamine-containing neurons in the NAc are activated by motivational stimuli, which encourage a person to perform or repeat a behavior. This dopamine release may contribute to the rewarding effects of alcohol and may thereby play a role in promoting alcohol consumption. In contrast to other stimuli, alcohol-related stimuli maintain their motivational significance even after repeated alcohol administration, which may contribute to the craving for alcohol observed in alcoholics.

• We further explored the effect of long-term ethanol consumption on striatal cholinergic systems by examining gene expression of several nAChR subunits (α4, α5, α7, and β2) and markers for cholinergic interneurons (ChAT and vAChT).
• It is one of the most ancient neurotransmitters as it is found in lizard brains, too.
• Large molecules, like opiates or amphetamines, only stimulate a specific neurotransmitter.
• This is the inspiration for developing the skills of Mindfulness in Recovery® (MIR) to meet the needs of new generations struggling with alcohol and other substance use disorders.
• In contrast to the dorsal striatum, dopamine release in the NAc is increased following chronic alcohol use in male cynomolgous macaques [22, 24].
• They were looking for evidence of increased levels of dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter.

You may have used alcohol to become more outgoing, manage stress, or combat depression. As mentioned above, early recovery might mean struggling with mood and overall mental wellness, but as your body and brain begin to heal, you will experience renewed motivation towards healthy habits in your life. Rational decision-making and impulse control are crucial in fighting addiction, and luckily these powerful functions of the brain will return as you begin to heal. While people in early recovery may still suffer from these symptoms, as well as an inability to process large amounts of information, new cell growth will eventually begin to repair this damage as time passes.

Hyperactive Dopamine Response Linked to Alcoholism

Alcohol feels great in part because it increases dopamine short term, but your brain actually adapts and eventually the small feeling of reward that comes from drinking can dissipate. Over time, dopamine production decreases once your tolerance goes up, meaning you may need more alcohol to feel the same boost over time. To modulate the responsiveness of neighboring neurons to glutamate, dopamine modifies the function of ion channels in the membrane of the signal-receiving (i.e., postsynaptic) neuron. The activity of some of these ion channels (i.e., whether they are open or closed) depends on the voltage difference, or potential, between the inside and the outside of the cell membrane adjacent to these channels. This rather specific distribution pattern of dopaminergic neurons contrasts with other related neurotransmitter systems (e.g., serotonin or noradrenaline), which affect most regions of the forebrain. Mann and his colleagues conducted a clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of nalmefene in reducing alcohol consumption.