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Most addictive drugs release dopamine in reward systems, even if they are not primarily dopaminergic. Two recent studies further examine this topic.
In Urban and colleagues' randomized, crossover, 2-day study, 21 social drinkers (>10–15 drinks/week; age range, 21–27) who did not meet dependence criteria underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans with a postsynaptic dopamine receptor D2/D3 ligand, once after a placebo drink disguised with a vodka odor and once after the equivalent of three drinks of 100-proof vodka normalized for sex and body weight. Compared with placebo, alcohol resulted in more dopamine release, especially in the ventral striatum, and more so in men than women. Subjects developed blood alcohol levels above the lega…