I just ran across a good introductory lecture about the genetics and physiology of addiction. It's about an hour long, but not at all overly technical, and it does a very good job of presenting the basics of the contemporary understanding of most of the recent scientific research and theories.
Note: One thing that is NOT addressed is more recent work on the distinction between brain systems involving "liking something" and "wanting" something. Addiction is MUCH more about the "wanting" system than it is about the "liking" system. The perceived "need" or strong desire to drink (the "craving") is related to the dopamine system, which is also involved in disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which there is also a subjectively felt extremely strong "need" to engage in a behavior that one does not particularly ENJOY doing.
Anyway, I'm going to try to embed the thing in this post, but if that doesn't work, I'll just put in the link:
Physiology of Addiction by Carl Christensen
Note: One thing that is NOT addressed is more recent work on the distinction between brain systems involving "liking something" and "wanting" something. Addiction is MUCH more about the "wanting" system than it is about the "liking" system. The perceived "need" or strong desire to drink (the "craving") is related to the dopamine system, which is also involved in disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which there is also a subjectively felt extremely strong "need" to engage in a behavior that one does not particularly ENJOY doing.
Anyway, I'm going to try to embed the thing in this post, but if that doesn't work, I'll just put in the link:
Physiology of Addiction by Carl Christensen