http://www.currentseparations.com/issues/18-1/cs18-1d.pdf
Serotonin is an important brain chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter
to communicate information among nerve cells. Serotonin’s actions have
been linked to alcohol’s effects on the brain and to alcohol abuse.
Alcoholics and experimental animals that consume large quantities of
alcohol show evidence of differences in brain serotonin levels compared
with nonalcoholics. Both short- and long-term alcohol exposures also
affect the serotonin receptors that convert the chemical signal produced
by serotonin into functional changes in the signal-receiving cell.
Drugs that act on these receptors alter alcohol consumption in both
humans and animals. Serotonin, along with other neurotransmitters,
also may contribute to alcohol’s intoxicating and rewarding effects,
and abnormalities in the brain’s serotonin system appear to play an
important role in the brain processes underlying alcohol abuse.
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