A newly discovered addiction gene could be fuelling teenage binge-drinking, research suggests.
The mutant version of the RASGRF2 gene makes the brain more sensitive to habit-forming rewards such as alcohol, studies have shown.
In both mice and young teenage boys it was closely linked to alcohol-seeking behaviour.
A group of 16-year-olds with the genetic variant drank alcohol more frequently than boys who did not possess it.
Lead scientist Professor Gunter Schumann, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, said: "People seek out situations which fulfil their sense of reward and make them happy, so if your brain is wired to find alcohol rewarding, you will seek it out.
"We now understand the chain of action: how our genes shape this function in our brains and how that, in turn, leads to human behaviour.
"We found that the RASGRF2 gene plays a crucial role in controlling how alcohol stimulates the brain to release dopamine (a nerve signalling molecule), and hence trigger the feeling of reward. So, if people have a genetic variation of the RASGRF2 gene, alcohol gives them a stronger sense of reward, making them more likely to be heavy drinkers."
Around six in 10 young people aged 11 to 15 in England consume alcohol, a proportion that has remained relatively stable for 20 years.
Source: John von Radowitz, Irish Independent, 05/12/2012
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