A major hypothesis in addiction research is that alcohol induces neuroadaptations in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system and that these neuroadaptations represent a key neurochemical event in compulsive drug use and relapse. Whether these neuroadaptations lead to a hypo- or hyperdopaminergic state during abstinence is a long-standing, unresolved debate among addiction researchers. The answer is...

Abstract Despite growing availability of several evidence-based approaches in the treatment substance use disorders, existing pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions continue to have significant limitations, such as low retention rates high relapse. There is a need develop new strategies models address these limitations target underlying drivers addiction, motivation change – crucial fac...

Mindfulness is one of the fastest growing areas of psychological research and over 70% of general practitioners in the United Kingdom now believe that mindfulness/meditation can be beneficial for patients with mental health issues [1]. In a previous issue of the Journal of Addiction Research and Therapy, Penberthy focused on an intervention known as mindfulness-based relapse prevention [MBRP] a...

Opioids selective for the G protein-coupled mu opioid receptor (MOR) produce potent analgesia and euphoria. Heroin, a synthetic opioid, is considered one of the most addictive substances, and the recent exponential rise in opioid addiction and overdose deaths has made treatment development a national public health priority. Existing medications (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone), when c...

BACKGROUND The automatic tendency to attend to and focus on substance-related cues in the environment (attentional bias), has been found to contribute to the persistence of addiction. Attentional bias modification (ABM) interventions might, therefore, contribute to treatment outcome and the reduction of relapse rates. Based on some promising research findings, we designed a study to test the cl...

This article reviews recent advances in the elucidation of neurobehavioral endophenotypes associated with drug addiction made possible by the translational neuroimaging techniques magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Increasingly, these non-invasive imaging approaches have been the catalyst for advancing our understanding of the etiology of drug addiction as ...

One of the greatest challenges in the understanding and treatment of addiction is cue-elicited relapse to drug use. The present findings of Miller and Marshall and Lee et al. reported in this issue of Neuron demonstrate that retrieved drug-related memories undergo reconsolidation and thus suggest that these maladaptive associations may be more labile than previously thought.

Chemical dependency is a common, chronic disease that affects up to 25 percent of patients seen in primary care practices. The treatment goal for patients recovering from chemical dependency should be to avoid relapse. This requires physicians to have an open, nonjudgmental attitude and specific expertise about the implications of addiction for other health problems. First-line treatment for ch...

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease characterized by a persistent risk of relapse, even after a long period of abstinence. A current hypothesis states that relapse results from lasting neuroadaptations that are induced in response to repeated drug administration. The adaptations require gene expression, some of which being under the control of stable epigenetic regulations. We have previo...

Elevated dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens is thought to be a primary mediator of addiction to cocaine. However, repeated exposure to cocaine is associated with the recruitment of glutamate transmission. This poses the possibility that the behaviors characterizing cocaine addiction, such as craving-induced relapse, may not be preferentially mediated by dopamine transmission. An ani...