Development of more sophisticated algorithms and analyses in the human brain may improve the ability to uncover cell-specific gene markers that mediate disease states (Xu et al., 2013). Just as distinct brain regional circuits are associated with different phases of addiction, cell-specific signaling among brain regions may also be critical in the addiction process. Developing tools to isolate and sequence live cell types from different human brain regions will be a key step in defining the alcoholic transcriptome on an unprecedented level. Cell-type specific changes in particular genes and/or cell-type differences in the direction of gene expression (Fig. 2) may eventually be used to develop drugs that target individual cell types (e.g. reactive astrocytes, proinflammatory microglia).
