Addiction Research
- Self-Medication of Anxiety Leads to Substance Abuse
People with anxiety disorders who try to self-medicate are at a higher than average risk for developing dependencies on drugs and alcohol, according to a study from the University of Manitoba.
- Dopamine Model Helps Explain Drug Addiction, Schizophrenia
Researchers have created a model that shows how dopamine is released in the brain, which could help scientists develop better treatments for drug addiction and schizophrenia. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in transmitting signals between nerve cells, and helps control the ways in which we behave.
- NIDA Honors Scientists for Developing Medication to Combat Addiction
Immunotherapy, gene therapy, herbal extracts, and inhibitor compound optimization are some the revolutionary and potentially new forms of clinical treatment in the country’s fight against one of its most widespread diseases: addiction.
- New Study Pinpoints Impulse Control Center in the Brain
A new study from researchers at Queen’s University has discovered that impulsive behavior—which plays an important role in disorders such as addiction and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—can be improved with training that incorporates specific changes in the brain.
- Drug-Induced Memories Make it Difficult for Some to Quit Meth
To examine the pull of drug memories that seems to draw users into addiction, researchers from Washington State University and the University of Calgary Medicine studied the memories formed by snails that were given methamphetamine.
- The Relationship between Obesity and Addiction
Being a chocoholic may not be a cliche anymore. According to a study published this spring that the same trigger for cocaine and heroin addiction may also be responsible for obesity.
- Opioid Drugs Present Viable Option in Alcoholism Treatment
Is it dangerous to introduce an alcoholic to opioid-based drugs in an attempt to deliver a treatment for alcoholism? This is one question addressed by a recent study examined in a recent Science Daily release.
- Psychiatric Distress Leads to Treatment for Substance Abuse
Individuals who suffer from substance abuse are offered many different types of support, from free treatment to counseling. One type of program that assists those struggling with substance abuse in more of an indirect manner is the needle exchange program.
- Student Creates Computer Modeling That Identifies Potential New Medications for Nicotine Addiction
A project using cutting-edge computer modeling to identify potential new medications for nicotine addiction won first place distinction at the annual Addiction Science Awards at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)— the world’s largest science competition for high school students. The Intel ISEF Addiction Science Awards were presented at an awards ceremony last night in San Jose, Calif., by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Friends of NIDA, a coalition that supports NIDA’s mission.
- Mice Can Synthesize Their Own Morphine
Traces of morphine in urine samples have been considered a clear proof of drug use or the consumption of food containing poppy in the past. Now, a study by a team of scientists from the Institute of Environmental Research at TU Dortmund and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, Missouri, proved for the first time that mice—and probably humans and other mammals—can produce their own morphine in their bodies.