AddictionNews is one of the top resources on the internet for news about developments in the use of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Zepbound, for the treatment of behavioral and chemical addictions. 

This includes stories covering GLP-1 drugs and alcohol addiction, opioid addiction, eating addiction, gambling addiction, and pornography addiction. The evidence indicates that GLP-1 drugs impact both the brain and the gut microbiome to reduce the craving to indulge in compulsive behaviors.

Exactly how this mechanism works is the subject of intense scrutiny. Researchers stumbled on GLP-1 drugs’ capability to calm cravings when prescribing them for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Anecdotal evidence drove the research into GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. Now, anecdotal evidence from weight loss studies is driving research in using GLP-1 drugs to curb substance use disorders (SUDs).

Again, the question arises: How do GLP-1 drugs reduce cravings for compulsive behaviors? A huge step forward in that understanding came recently from Dr. Allison Shapiro, Director of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Colorado Anschutz.

Dr. Shapiro collaborated with a colleague, Dr. Melanie Cree, who was studying treatments for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), “a hormonal disorder affecting 1 in 10 U.S. women,” according to The Washington Post. While Dr. Cree was monitoring weight loss and blood sugar levels, Dr. Shapiro was collecting fMRI brain scans. Noticeable changes in the women’s brain scans soon appeared:

Within only a few months, the brain connections in the salience network, which helps target attention, had multiplied.

The research revealed that PMOS may involve dysfunction of the hypothalamus, which is also a region thick with GLP-1 receptors. The hypothalamus regulates hunger, stress, and sleep, to some extent. Are GLP-1 drugs muting the stress that would normally result from abstinence? Are they muting the emotional response to anything and everything?

“We didn’t expect to see this effect, and we really don’t know what it means,” Dr. Shapiro told The Washington Post. She believes they’ll learn more from brain scans once the girls are removed from GLP-1 drugs. For now, The Post offers more anecdotal evidence. They interviewed a 28-year-old graduate of the PMOS study who lost over 100 pounds on GLP-1 drugs, which she has been taking for five years. The Post says:

[S]he has noticed a number of brain changes even if it’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause. She was on myriad antidepressants since she was a teen, but since being on GLP-1s, she no longer needs them and has shifted from being a social drinker to not having a desire to drink at all.

There’s that tempting anecdotal evidence again: Positive therapeutic outcomes with mysterious side effects. The Post refers to it as “a strange emotional flattening,” or what we call Six-Seven Syndrome.

The Washington Post‘s attempt to unravel the mystery starts in the gut, goes to the brain, and really gets nowhere. They report that the GLP-1 drugs are too big to pass the blood-brain barrier, so they don’t even understand how the drugs get into the brain in the first place. They report on fascinating work by Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, clinical director and deputy scientific director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Dr. Leggio built a mock lounge and monitored participants’ biological responses to alcohol-induced cues. They found “hyperactivity in brain circuits connected to reward, craving and reinforcement.” Somehow, GLP-1 quiets those cravings, whether it’s “food noise” or compulsive gambling.

“We don’t fully understand how it works,” Dr. Leggio told The Post, which seems to be the conclusion of every study on GLP-1 drugs.

One clue to the answer of how GLP-1 drugs work is to look at the problem backwards. Researchers are mostly seeing people who already have a problem, and monitoring how GLP-1 drugs impact that problem, as well as how they impact the brain and the metabolism. If they could track patients before they experience a problem requiring GLP-1 drugs, they might discover neurobiological changes due to the displacement of stress that are, to some extent, reversed by GLP-1 drugs. They are seeing the reduction of inflammation in the brain without seeing the increase in inflammation that likely caused the patient’s problems in the first place.

What happens if people put under stress simply don’t react to it? Would that be a blessing or an existential curse? Stay tuned as we peel the onion on GLP-1 drugs and addiction here at AddictionNews.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published June 8, 2026.

Sources:

“Ozempic may be reshaping the brain, scientists say,” The Washington Post, May 28, 2026.

“Prospects of GLP-1 Therapies for Addiction and Mental Health Comorbidities-Quo Vadis?: A Review,” JAMA Psychiatry, March 26, 2026.

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