Altogether, these studies illustrate that within a same subject ethanol exposure affects the expression of genes belonging to different functional categories in distinct brain regions. The above findings clearly call for more studies on individual brain regions to address transcriptional adaptations relevant to the particular role of the neural substrates mediating the different aspects of ethanol intoxication, consumption and addiction [68]. These regions include cerebellum and brainstem nuclei for the motor and autonomic effects of ethanol; ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and central nucleus of the amygdala for the acute reinforcing effects of ethanol; central nucleus of the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and nucleus accumbens shell (which altogether compose the “extended amygdala” [69, 70]) for negative affect during ethanol withdrawal; medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens core, ventral pallidum, dorsal striatum, basolateral amygdala, hippocampus and extended amygdala for ethanol craving. In addition, neuroimaging studies in humans have also shown that behavioral impairments characteristic of alcoholism, including cognitive deficits and emotional dysfunction, are mediated by a disruption of frontal lobe and cerebellar circuitry [71].
