Behavioral traits in adolescence predict preference for alcohol, AI analysis finds

A machine learning analysis identified specific behavior profiles that predict a preference for alcohol in adolescent mice, which may provide insights into potential drivers of alcohol use disorder in human adolescents.

The artificial intelligence (AI) model found that behaviors of natural reward-seeking behavior and lower sociability in adolescent mice were each predictive of a likelihood to seek out alcohol. The study, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggests that specific neurochemical pathways in the adolescent brain may be associated with susceptibility to alcohol consumption and misuse, and may be potential targets for therapeutic intervention in teens at risk for alcohol use disorder.

For the study, researchers conducted a series of experiments, including maze tests, on adolescent and adult mice to assess behavioral characteristics such as novelty-seeking, anxiety-like behavior, sociability, and coping strategies. They then measured natural reward response by comparing how much sugar water versus tap water the mice drank over 24 hours. Finally, they assessed whether the mice preferred alcohol or water when offered both over five days. The results of the assessments were fed into a machine learning model, first to train it, then to test it before it conducted its analysis.

In the adult mice, none of the behavioral variables predicted ethanol preference. In the adolescent mice, two behavioral variables were associated with a preference for alcohol: natural reward seeking and sociability. Sugar water consumption, which demonstrated natural reward-seeking, was the most predictive of alcohol preference. The rewarding effects of both natural rewards and alcohol are reinforced by dopamine pathways, which are still developing during adolescence, increasing susceptibility to substance use. The researchers suggest a particular chemical messenger in the brain called orexin may play a role in helping to reduce adolescent alcohol use.

Sociability also emerged as an essential factor associated with alcohol preference, with less sociable mice--those that preferred solitude rather than the company of another mouse during the sociability test--likely to choose alcohol in the alcohol preference test. The researchers speculate that this effect may relate to oxytocin, a hormone associated with social behavior.

The study suggests interesting avenues for future research into preventing alcohol misuse in adolescents, but, as with all preclinical studies, it does not establish whether the findings apply to humans.

By the Research Society on Alcohol for Newswise.

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