Accumbens coordinated reset stimulation in mice exhibits ameliorating aftereffects on binge alcohol drinking

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) affects nearly 5% of the world's adult population. Despite treatment, AUD often manifests with relapse to binge drinking, which has been associated with corticostriatal hypersynchrony involving the nucleus accumbens (NAc).

Methods: A modified "Drinking in the Dark" protocol was used to provoke binge-like alcohol drinking. We implemented Coordinated Reset Stimulation (CRS), a computationally designed, spatio-temporal stimulation algorithm, to desynchronize abnormal neuronal activity via a deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode in the NAc of mice exhibiting binge-like alcohol drinking. Integral CRS charge injected would be 2.5% of that of conventional high-frequency DBS.

Results: NAc CRS delivery during only the initial phase of exposure to alcohol and prior to the exposure (but not during) significantly reduced binge-like drinking without interfering with social behavior or locomotor activity.

Conclusions: NAc CRS ameliorates binge-like alcohol drinking and preliminarily exhibits sustained aftereffects that are suggestive of an unlearning of hypersynchrony.