Drug addiction or substance-use disorder is a chronically relapsing disorder that progresses through binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect and preoccupation/anticipation stages. These stages represent diverse neurobiological mechanisms that are differentially involved in the transition from recreational to compulsive drug use and from positive to negative reinforcement. The progression...

Adolescence is a transitional period during development that is associated with a greater likelihood of addiction to drugs than any other age. One possibility for this observation is that learned associations between the rewarding experience of drugs and drug-related cues may produce greater motivational salience, and thus are more difficult to extinguish. Using an unbiased place-conditioning p...

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a brain region responsible for executive functions including working memory, impulse control and decision making. The loss of these functions may ultimately lead to addiction. Using histological analysis combined with stereological technique, we demonstrated that the PFC is more vulnerable to chronic alcohol-induced oxidative stress and neuronal cell death than th...

Chronic vulnerability to relapse is a formidable challenge for the treatment of drug addiction. The neurobiological basis of relapse and its prevention has, therefore, attracted major attention in addiction research. Current conceptualizations of addiction recognize craving as a central driving force for ongoing drug use, as well as for relapse following abstinence. Progress has been made in un...

This study aimed to determine how the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) affect Internet addiction in adolescents. Two hundred and eleven high school students participated in this study and completed the Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), BIS/BAS scales, and several self-administered questionnaires about depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. Hierarch...

Background: Addiction is the repeated use of a chemical substance which affects the biological function of the brain and endangers physical health of the addicted person. Prevalence and pattern of taking drugs were assessed in the current study in a Special Cares Trauma Center. So the specialized physician could manage the medical procedure more easily through identification of addicted patient...

Addiction to alcohol or nicotine involves altered functioning of the brain's motivational systems. Altered functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis may hold clues to the nature of the motivational changes accompanying addiction and vulnerability to addiction. Alcohol and nicotine show at least three forms of interaction with HPA functioning. Acute intake of both subst...

Environmental conditions can dramatically influence the behavioral and neurochemical effects of drugs of abuse. For example, stress increases the reinforcing effects of drugs and plays an important role in determining the vulnerability to develop drug addiction. On the other hand, positive conditions, such as environmental enrichment, can reduce the reinforcing effects of psychostimulants and m...

The human mu opioid receptor (MOR) plays a central role in mediating the effects of opioids, both endogenous and exogenous. Epidemiological studies have shown that addiction in general, and especially opiate addiction, has a heritable component. Clinical and laboratory studies suggest that the MOR gene may contribute to the heritable component of vulnerability to develop opiate addiction. Natur...