---
title: "Psych News Alert: Study Identifies Decreased Dopamine Transmission in Cortex of Patients With Alcoholism"
description: Individuals with alcoholism appear to have decreased transmission of dopamine in the brain's cortex region, according to a report publis...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_93662965-4.jpg
---

 6/3/14 12:00 AM

# Study Identifies Decreased Dopamine Transmission in Cortex of Patients With Alcoholism

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html)

| ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_93662965-Jun-24-2025-05-18-58-1634-PM.jpg?width=200&height=145&name=shutterstock_93662965-Jun-24-2025-05-18-58-1634-PM.jpg) |  |
| --- | --- |

Individuals with alcoholism appear to have decreased transmission of dopamine in the brain's cortex region, according to a report published in *AJP in Advance* titled, “[Decreased Prefrontal Cortical Dopamine Transmission in Alcoholism](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/AJP/0/appi.ajp.2014.13121581.pdf).”

Researchers from the departments of Psychiatry and Radiology at the University of Pittsburgh used positron emission tomography to measure cortical dopamine transmission in 21 recently abstinent individuals with alcohol dependence and 21 matched healthy comparison subjects before and after administration of amphetamine. They found significantly decreased dopamine transmission in the cortex of patients with alcoholism. Cortical regions that demonstrated lower dopamine transmission in the alcohol-dependent group included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, orbital frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and medial temporal lobe.

The researchers said further research is necessary to understand the clinical relevance of decreased cortical dopamine to evaluate whether it is related to impaired executive function, relapse, and outcome in alcoholism. “Decreased dopamine transmission…likely contributes to anhedonia, amotivation, and decreased reward sensitivity in alcohol dependence,” they said. "The fact that there is also less dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, which governs executive functions, is important because it could impair the addicted person’s ability to learn and utilize informational/behavioral strategies critical to relapse prevention.”

To read more about alcoholism research, see the *Psychiatric News* article, "[Anticonvulsant Drug Shows Efficacy in Treating Alcoholism](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1812225)." For information about treatments for alcohol abuse, see American Psychiatric Publishing's *[Clinical Manual of Addiction Psychopharmacology, Second Edition](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62440)*.

(Image: thaumatr0pe/shutterstock.com)

[ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [dopamine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dopamine), [alcoholism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alcoholism)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DOCTOR%20COUNSELS%20PATIENT%20ABOUT%20PILLS%20iStock-1041147612-4.jpg?height=200&name=DOCTOR%20COUNSELS%20PATIENT%20ABOUT%20PILLS%20iStock-1041147612-4.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/03/drug-combination-mitigates-weight-gain.html)

[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [olanzapine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/olanzapine), [metabolic disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/metabolic-disease), [weight gain](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/weight-gain), [samidorphan](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/samidorphan)

## [Drug Combination Mitigates Weight Gain in Patients With Schizophrenia, Study Shows](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/03/drug-combination-mitigates-weight-gain.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 3/12/19 12:00 AM

The combination of the antipsychotic olanzapine and samidorphan, an experimental agent that acts on...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/03/drug-combination-mitigates-weight-gain.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/multiple%20blue%20brains_109822958-Jun-24-2025-10-32-34-7489-PM.jpg?height=200&name=multiple%20blue%20brains_109822958-Jun-24-2025-10-32-34-7489-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/01/patients-with-treatment-resistant-ocd.html)

[ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [obsessive-compulsive disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/obsessive-compulsive-disorder), [deep brain stimulation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/deep-brain-stimulation), [HAM-D](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ham-d), [HAM-A](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ham-a), [Damiann Denys](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/damiann-denys), [Y-BOCS](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/y-bocs)

## [Patients With Treatment-Resistant OCD Found to Improve After Deep Brain Stimulation](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/01/patients-with-treatment-resistant-ocd.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 1/7/20 12:00 AM

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may lead to improvements in patients with treatment-resistant...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/01/patients-with-treatment-resistant-ocd.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pregnant%20woman%20with%20doctor_151832999_cropped-Jun-24-2025-06-28-08-7202-PM.jpg?height=200&name=pregnant%20woman%20with%20doctor_151832999_cropped-Jun-24-2025-06-28-08-7202-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/03/stress-in-pregnancy-may-affect-genes.html)

[ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatry), [pregnancy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/pregnancy), [AJP](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp), [DNA methylation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dna-methylation), [epigenetics](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/epigenetics), [neuroscience](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/neuroscience)

## [Stress in Pregnancy May Affect Genes for Neural Development](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/03/stress-in-pregnancy-may-affect-genes.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 3/25/16 12:00 AM

Greater perceived stress in pregnant women was associated with alterations of two genes in the...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/03/stress-in-pregnancy-may-affect-genes.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T17:22:58.131Z",
  "datePublished" : "2014-06-03T04:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Study Identifies Decreased Dopamine Transmission in Cortex of Patients With Alcoholism",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_93662965-4.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/06/study-identifies-decreased-dopamine.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```