Drink too much? Your brain brakes may be failing

A team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara is trying to figure out what makes some people overdrink. They have a theory -- and it has to do with a mechanism in a small brain structure called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) that helps sense alcohol’s negative effects and modulates the urge to drink. When it doesn’t function properly, researchers say we lose the ability to perceive when we’ve had enough. Their study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could help further our understanding of addiction and treatment.