A new target for alcoholism treatment: Kappa opioid receptors
![brendan-walker Brendan Walker](https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-cas/uploads/sites/648/2014/05/brendan-walker.jpg)
The list of brain receptor targets for opiates reads like a fraternity: Mu Delta Kappa. Until now, the mu opioid receptor received the most attention in alcoholism research.
A new study in Biological Psychiatry, led by Brendan Walker, WSU associate professor of psychology, used a rat model of alcohol dependence to directly investigate the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system following chronic alcohol exposure and withdrawal. These findings provide researchers with a potentially successful path to developing new drugs for the treatment of alcoholism.