Neuroscience can suggest remedies for the causes of this social disease, by specifying the necessary conditions to prevent its appearance. By trying to understand the roots of this vice, we will be able to find the way to stop its evolution and spreading. By becoming more informed, we will be able to assume the responsibility for our behavior.

          Throughout the years, brain-environment interactions have influenced some people in developing addictions. Addiction starts as pleasure satisfying, then it becomes the condition for a pleasant ambient, and in time it turns into somatic disease. It also modifies the cerebral path for reward and pleasure stimulation, and in the end it affects motivation and will. This is where neurofeedback tries to help, by reinforcing the normal brain path for reward and pleasure, and also reinforcing motivation and will. This medical device is also helpful in ending the possible abeyant psychiatric traumas, unknown, unaware of, with the purpose of diminishing the psychological vulnerability of the individual.

          While drogue abstinence triggers convulsive symptoms, nicotine abstinence determines irritability symptoms, focus affectation, sleep disorders, the impossibility to relax and depression (American Psychiatric Association 1996), alcohol abstinence produces dysphoria, epileptic crisis, trembling, cognition altering, high blood pressure,  balance disorders and other symptoms (Littrell 1991 b).

          In 1973, Wikler enunciated the hypothesis that stimuli behave like conditional stimuli, based on the fact that alcoholic people experience abstinence symptoms very often, when they stop consuming alcohol. During the abstinence period, dopamine release from accumbens nucleus is suppressed. This produces alterations such as cerebral self stimulation threshold increase, food operant response diminish, as well as diminishes the ability to perform spontaneous locomotion (Schulteis & Koob, 1996). Therefore, people wishing to quit try from time to time to free themselves from these irritating symptoms, by resuming their alcohol consume. Gradually, that person suffers changes in behavioral priorities and alcohol abuse becomes the purpose of that person’s life.

          These changes can last for months and even years because of the pleasure created and limbic system involvement. That is the reason why it is very hard to undo them through classical methods, and also because memories of the pleasant emotions usually last a lifetime. These alterations involve more circuits and structures that determine life changes (the pleasure, reward, motivation, emotional memory and the following structures: dopamine mesolimbic path, i.e. ventral tegument, accumbens nucleus, and also basal ganglia, thalamic nuclei and prefrontal cortex).

          Many researches related with the genetic involvement in addictions suggest the tendency of inheriting this vice, alcoholism (Cloninger 1999). This tendency can be the result of altered gene functionality that leads to cerebral proteins alteration. When proteins are abnormal, genes are abnormal and this affects the neurotransmitters’ function.

          Alcohol interferes with many key neurotransmitters, such as: serotonin, glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, endorphins and many others. Although the mechanism is complex, involving more neurotransmitters, scientists have shown that there is a final common path for addiction producing substances and this represents the dopaminergic system (Kobb 1998). These active substances permeate, through indirect paths, into the dopaminergic system and increase the dopamine’s levels or modify the dopamine’s action on the receptor.

          What is important is that this dopaminergic system spreads its ramifications to the frontal lobe, and interferes with pleasure, emotion, emotional event memory, as well as with the ability to take decisions related to the emotional event.

          Alcohol addiction and individual responsibility

          An addicted person’s brain is compromised, but one cannot state that he is irresponsible, because of his increased vulnerability. That is the reason why family, friends and the currant physician have to help and promote a heath behavior, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy to prevent relapses and a higher sense of responsibility for individual behavior.

          Neurofeedback

          According to studies published in 1949 by Funderburk, in 1953 by Funderhauser, in 1982 by Gabrielli and Johanesson, and in 1985 by Volavka, alcoholism is associated with alpha brainwaves deficit and low synchrony. After alcohol use, an increase in alpha brainwaves activity is recorded, that leads to the conclusion that alcoholic persons have a certain vulnerability.

          The use of neurofeedback for psychopathologic treatment, with alpha and theta waves, started through Kamiya’s reasearches in 1969 followed by Green in 1970, Brown in 1970, Brudzynsky & Stoya in 1972. Neurofeedback‘s purpose is to reduce anxiety and repressed psychic content.

          Depression and weak brainwaves synchrony are both associated with alcoholism. Alpha-theta protocol was investigated by Peniston and Kulkosky in 1989, as an innovative technique, applied to chronic alcoholics, in order to prevent increase of beta endorphins level during alcoholism treatment. Results have showed a significant alcoholism decrease, with the appearance of psychophysiological reaction of rejection to alcohol ingestion and depression diminish, as well as personality changes. These persons become warmer, more intelligent, more stable emotionally, more relaxed, satisfied and more socially involved (Peniston and Kulkosky 1990).

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