The Future of Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment and Research

Currently, available FDA-approved pharmacotherapeutic options for alcohol use disorder (AUD) remain limited. In the case of acamprosate and naltrexone, the proposed therapeutic mechanisms are neurotransmitter-based, and in the case of disulfiram, the putative therapeutic mechanism occurs outside of the central nervous system. As psychiatry moves from neurotransmitter to neurocircuit-based treatments, the treatment of AUD should follow accordingly. This chapter focuses on novel pharmacotherapeutics and their proposed effects on brain circuits involved in AUD and brain stimulation methods, which are also proposed to work through targeting neural systems. The extant literature will be summarized, and future directions in terms of research and treatment will be proposed.