Ozempic may have revealed the brain’s hidden “craving center”
Date:
August 12, 2026
Source:
The Conversation
Summary:
Ozempic-like drugs appear to weaken more than hunger—they may also reduce cravings for alcohol and other addictive substances. Scientists are increasingly tracing this effect to the lateral septum, a brain region that helps connect memories and surroundings with rewarding experiences. Packed with GLP-1 receptors, it may act as a crucial control point between thinking about a reward and feeling compelled to pursue it. The discovery could open new approaches to treating addiction as well as obesity.
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For many people, the thought of a tasty burger or a cold pint of beer conjures up a vivid mental image and drives behavior
This link between thinking and doing serves a clear function – it motivates us to get the necessities for life
But for some, this process can malfunction. Preoccupation with these rewarding stimuli can lead to disorders of substance overuse, including overeating to the point of obesity and alcohol abuse
Studies going back to the 1970s have linked vivid mental imagery with drug abuse
Understanding this link between craving and consuming is central to understanding addiction. This has eluded neuroscience for decades, but the introduction of a new class of drugs for weight loss may have given us just the lever we need to understand it
These new drugs – including Ozempic and Wegovy – mimic the GLP-1 hormone to stimulate insulin release, slow digestion, and increase feelings of fullness. They are known as GLP-1 agonists and were originally used to treat type 2 diabetes because they help control blood sugar
As a side effect, people using these drugs also lost a lot of weight, in some cases almost as much as might be expected from bariatric surgery
But there is another less well publicised effect. Human studies show that GLP-1 agonists reduce alcohol consumption. Preclinical animal studies suggest these drugs also reduce the use of cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and nicotine
These drugs are changing how we think about the brain’s reward system. They may also open new treatment options for obesity, alcohol dependence and the consumption of other addictive substances
How the brain regulates reward stimuli
We have a reasonable understanding of the brain’s “reward circuitry” associated with regions that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine
These brain parts – the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) – have been the subject of research on reward for decades. They are the obvious candidate regions to look for a mechanism for GLP-1 action in the brain. But they lack significant density of receptors for GLP-1 and are unlikely to be the direct mechanism
We must, therefore, consider other brain regions to understand the anti-consumption effect of GLP-1 drugs
One jump “upstream” from the dopamine-producing brain parts is a region called the lateral septum. This brain structure has been historically implicated in emotional regulation
Back in 1953, pioneering US behavioural researchers Joseph Brady and Walle Nauta coined the term “septal rage” when animals with damage in the lateral septum showed increased aggression, while direct stimulation of this brain region reduced aggression
Much more recent work has placed the lateral septum at the center of a neural connectivity network. This has reframed how we think about its function
While a link between the lateral septum and another region called the hypothalamus is probably responsible for septal rage, the lateral septum links with many other regions with various functions
The brain’s reward control center
The lateral septum inherits much of its primary input from a brain region called the hippocampus
This region is well known as the place that lets us form long-term “episodic memories.” A famous case of hippocampal damage, Henry Molaison (patient HM), was unable to form new memories after his surgery for epilepsy. He effectively lived without a past, in permanent present tense
The hippocampus also contains the remarkable “place cells” – neurons that fire corresponding to a person’s thoughts about their position in space and, as recent research has shown, time
This “where and when am I” information gets forwarded to the lateral septum. Key research has recently shown the lateral septum also contains place cells, but these cells strongly respond to rewards. They effectively add “what is good in this place” to the “where and when am I” information from the hippocampus
Critically, the lateral septum shares this information with the dopamine-producing regions we would normally associate with reward
Neuroscientists now think of the lateral septum as the brain region that lets us “think about” rewards – our conscious perception of them – and communicates with the machinery in the brain’s reward system that produces dopamine to make us feel good about them
There is one last reason to suspect the lateral septum as the mechanism behind the anti-consumption effect of GLP-1 agonists. It is absolutely loaded with GLP-1 receptors
Emerging research points to this as the mechanism. GLP-1 activation directly in the lateral septum has recently been shown to reduce food consumption in mice. Earlier this year, another study showed the same for alcohol consumption
My own lab has shown this year that GLP-1 drugs reduce a type of activity in the lateral septum that may prevent it communicating so effectively with other brain regions
These findings are reshaping our understanding of how the brain processes rewards and have put the spotlight firmly on the lateral septum as the home of cravings
Materials provided by The Conversation. Original Senior Lecturer, University of Otago. Note: Content may be edited for style and length
Cite This Page:
The Conversation. “Ozempic may have revealed the brain’s hidden “craving center”.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 August 2026. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811011138.htm>.
The Conversation. (2026, August 12). Ozempic may have revealed the brain’s hidden “craving center”. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 12, 2026 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811011138.htm
The Conversation. “Ozempic may have revealed the brain’s hidden “craving center”.” ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811011138.htm (accessed August 12, 2026).
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