Blacking Out the Blackout –

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 –  For a person with alcohol use disorder, a memory triggered by a simple cue — like walking by a favorite bar or spotting a beer billboard — can drive a desire for a drink.  The idea hinges on the rewriting of the memories associated with drinking. Those memories are often associated with environmental cues, like certain friends a person with alcohol use disorder always drank with. By manipulating those memories in a moment when they’re malleable, researchers hope to break the tie between memories and environmental cues — and in turn, prevent relapse. In a small, preliminary new study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, the approach was associated with less alcohol consumption and less of an urge to drink among people who drank heavily and often.

Full Story @StatNews