Just how important dopamine receptors are to substance use was illustrated by a study of mice who had previously been trained to drink alcohol. They were given an “infusion” of dopamine receptors right into the nucleus accumbens. Before the infusion these rodents had fewer than normal dopamine receptors. The receptors were incorporated into a harmless virus that entered the animals’ brain cells so that, temporarily, a normal range of receptor activity was achieved. As long as this artificial supply of dopamine receptors was available, the mice reduced their alcohol intake considerably—but they
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