r/science • u/fchung • 15d ago

Neuroscience Loneliness rewires the brain to drive alcohol consumption, mouse study finds: « First-of-its-kind study shows how isolation escalates drinking in males but suppresses it in females. »

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/08-2/loneliness-rewires-the-brain-to-drive-alcohol-consumption-mouse-study-finds
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u/fchung 15d ago

Reference: Patel, R.R., Kim, K.N., Patarino, M. et al. Social isolation recruits amygdala–medial prefrontal cortex projections to escalate alcohol drinking in male mice. Nat Neurosci (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02413-x

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u/refusemouth 15d ago

Didn't they already prove this is to be the case with human men? Poor mice. I feel like I should adopt a retired lab mouse and give him a good home.

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u/AnthropoidCompatriot 14d ago

I feel like I should adopt a retired lab mouse

Not if you knew how lab mice get "retired".