A new study looks at the increased rates of prescription opioid use disorder among younger people.
Researchers report addictive cravings can be detected in the brain after death.
A new study reports on the growing trend of heroin use in young white male with little education and of lower socioeconomic status.
Researchers have developed a new pain killer that is on par with conventional opioids, but does not affect respiration, which is the main cause of opioid overdose.
A new vaccine blocks the effects of heroin by preventing the drug from crossing the blood-brain barrier. Researchers believe the vaccine could be helpful in curbing the opioid epidemic.
Researchers report in glial cells, drug induced plasticity can reduce the motivation for heroin. The findings could help develop new treatments for opioid addiction.
Researchers report 10 percent of people who have attended EDM events have misused opioids in the past 12 months. The number, researchers say, exceeds national averages. Oxycontin was reported to be the most widely misused drug within the scene.
Researchers have identified a significant role dopamine plays in the development of heroin addiction. The study reports dopamine appears to directly cause drug reinforcement and, when dopamine neurons are silenced, mice are less likely to self administer the drug.
Opiate exposure causes synaptic rewiring in the nucleus accumbens in addition to decreasing dendritic spines. The findings shed light into the neurobiology of opiate relapse.
Altered expression of FYN, a gene associated with the production of Tau, was identified in the brains of people addicted to heroin. Findings suggest opioid use can affect the brain in a way that might cause vulnerability in neural systems that can trigger neurodegeneration later in life.
