{
  "id": 16202128,
  "title": "Hunger may play a role in alcohol addiction",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/hunger-may-play-a-role-in-alcohol-addiction",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-23T16:11:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Futurity",
    "slug": "futurity",
    "url": "https://www.futurity.org/hunger-alcohol-addiction-3349642/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Researchers from Brown University's Carney Institute for Brain Science have discovered a molecular connection between hunger and the development of reward memories associated with alcohol addiction. This finding could potentially guide strategies for both treatment and prevention of alcohol addiction. The study, conducted using the fruit fly as a model, identified a specific set of neurons that respond to hunger and influence the perception of alcohol as rewarding. When food-deprived flies encountered alcohol, these neurons activated, leading to an increased likelihood of remembering alcohol as a pleasant experience. Lead author Lewis Sherer and his team from Brown's neuroscience lab suggest that understanding the role of hunger in memory formation could provide insights into the development and prevention of alcohol addiction in humans. Previous research in the same lab has already explored how memory formation contributes to addiction, specifically the role of \"reward\" molecules like dopamine. However, this study emphasizes the importance of internal states such as hunger in shaping these memories. The researchers found that by manipulating a single octopamine neuron linked to hunger, they could alter how quickly flies found alcohol rewarding and their subsequent preference for it. This effect was observed only when the flies were hungry, highlighting the impact of hunger on neural circuits responsible for associating environmental cues with rewarding feelings connected to alcohol. The findings, published in Current Biology, suggest that external factors like food insecurity may influence an individual's susceptibility to alcohol addiction by affecting their internal reward systems. Sherer notes that understanding these mechanisms could help prevent relapse and improve addiction treatment approaches. Funding for the research was provided by various national institutes and organizations dedicated to alcohol research and neurological disorders.",
  "summary": "Researchers have discovered a molecular link between hunger and the formation of \"reward\" memories that play a role in alcohol addiction.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}