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Alcohol, the reward system and dependence

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Toward a Molecular Basis of Alcohol Use and Abuse

Part of the book series: Experientia ((EXS,volume 71))

Summary

Evidence is presented to show that multiple neurotransmitter systems of the brain reward systems including GABA, glutamate, dopamine, serotonin and opioid peptides are involved in alcohol reinforcement. Dependence is associated with changes in many of these same systems, but also with changes in other neurotransmitters, such as brain corticotropin releasing factor. A midbrain forebrain circuitry that involves parts of the nucleus accumbens and amygdala is hypothesized to be the focus for the neuropharmacology of alcohol reinforcement.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10666 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA

    G. F. Koob, S. Rassnick, S. Heinrichs & F. Weiss

Authors
  1. G. F. Koob
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  2. S. Rassnick
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  3. S. Heinrichs
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  4. F. Weiss
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86, Huddinge, Sweden

    B. Jansson

  2. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden

    H. Jörnvall

  3. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

    U. Rydberg  & L. Terenius  & 

  4. Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Seeley G. Mudd Building, 250 Longwood Avenue, 02115, Boston, MA, USA

    B. L. Vallee

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© 1994 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel/Switzerland

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Koob, G.F., Rassnick, S., Heinrichs, S., Weiss, F. (1994). Alcohol, the reward system and dependence. In: Jansson, B., Jörnvall, H., Rydberg, U., Terenius, L., Vallee, B.L. (eds) Toward a Molecular Basis of Alcohol Use and Abuse. Experientia, vol 71. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7330-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7330-7_11

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-7332-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-7330-7

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