Relapse, even after long periods of abstinence, is a key problem in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD; see FBhh0000682). Alcohol-related environmental cues become associated with the rewarding effect of alcohol and can evoke intense feelings of craving, even after long periods of abstinence. It is thought that ethanol triggers neural mechanisms that cause memories to become more long-lasting and inflexible, resulting in persistent alcohol cue memory. This phenomenon has been investigated using Drosophila.
In Drosophila, activity of neurons within the portion of the brain termed the mushroom body are required for creation of associative memories, including memories of ethanol-associated sensory cues. Creation of persistent alcohol cue memory has been characterized in terms of affected neural sub-populations within the mushroom body and as changes in the transcriptome of the mushroom body.
[updated Dec. 2020 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]
Alcohol and other addictive substances can remold neural circuits important for memory to reduce the inherent flexibility of adaptive memory (FBrf0245835 and references cited therein).
Repeated alcohol experiences can produce long-lasting memories for sensory cues associated with intoxication. These memories can trigger relapse in individuals recovering from alcohol use disorder (FBrf0245607 and references cited therein).
