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cocaine addiction

·February 20, 2023·4 min read

Ketamine Could Be Effective Treatment for Cocaine-Use Disorders

Those with cocaine use disorder who were administered ketamine for depression or pain experienced two-to-four times higher remission rate.

This is a drawing of a mouse surrounded by chemical equations

Featured Neuroscience

·November 1, 2022·3 min read

How Gut Bacteria Influence the Effects of Cocaine in Mice

Cocaine use supports the growth of γ-proteobacteria, a common gut bacteria that consume glycine. As glycine levels become depleted mouse models exhibit a higher response to cocaine with abnormal behaviors including increased drug-induced locomotion and drug-seeking behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 8, 2022·4 min read

Human Cocaine and Heroin Addiction Is Found Tied to Impairments in Specific Brain Circuit Initially Implicated in Animals

Greater impairment of the prefrontal cortex-habenula pathway was correlated with earlier age of first drug use.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 28, 2022·5 min read

New Brain Mechanism Involved in Impulsive Cocaine-Seeking in Rats Discovered

Blocking M2Rs muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the lateral habenula with an experimental drug increased cocaine-seeking behaviors in rat models of impulsive behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 2, 2020·2 min read

Sleep-Deprived Mice Find Cocaine More Rewarding

Mouse study reveals sleep deprivation can increase the risk of cocaine addiction. Too little sleep increases the reward properties of cocaine, researchers report.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 29, 2020·4 min read

Nucleus Accumbens Neuron Ensembles Recruited by Cocaine and Sugar Are Different

Cocaine and sucrose neuron ensembles in the nucleus accumbens are mostly non-overlapping.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 17, 2020·3 min read

Astrocytes Build Synapses After Cocaine Use

Astrocytes respond to cocaine exposure in the brains of mice by promoting the formation of new synapses.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 23, 2020·4 min read

Mysterious Brain Structure Sheds Light on Addiction

A new study reveals the role the claustrum plays in cocaine addiction. Inhibiting claustral neurons prevented behavioral responses to cocaine in mouse models of addiction.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·April 9, 2020·4 min read

Novel role for dopamine that impacts gene expression related to cocaine abuse discovered

Reducing H3Q5dop in rat models of cocaine withdrawal significantly reversed cocaine mediated gene expression changes and reduced cocaine-seeking behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 15, 2020·5 min read

Surprising effects of oxytocin on cocaine addiction

In men with a history of childhood trauma, oxytocin reduced the activity within the amygdala and cravings for cocaine. Women who were addicted to cocaine and had experienced childhood trauma showed an increase in amygdala activity following exposure to oxytocin.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·September 2, 2019·3 min read

Chronic cocaine use modifies gene expression

Chronic cocaine use alters the epigenetic profile of the FosB gene in the hippocampus. These alterations are required for cocaine-dependent gene expression and cocaine environment associations. Modification of hippocampal FosB results in a condition critical for cocaine-related learning.