Loneliness rewires the brain to drive alcohol use, preclinical study finds

Loneliness can reprogram the brain in ways that increase alcohol consumption, according to a new preclinical study led by Northwestern University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The scientists identified, for the first time, a brain mechanism through which isolation escalates alcohol use in male mice but suppresses it in females.

Originally published on
Medical Xpress
Read full article(opens in new tab)Fetched: August 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM



