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Archive for Research Articles

Brain Triggers Different in Men and Women

by relieved
February 1st, 2012

A study published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry, shows addicted women’s brains are activated by stress—and men’s are activated by drug cues.

“There are differences in treatment outcomes for people with addictions who experience stress-induced drug cravings and those whose cravings are induced by drug cues,” says Marc Potenza, professor of psychiatry, child study, and neurobiology at Yale University and first author of the study. “It is important to understand the biologic mechanisms that underlie these cravings.”

The researchers conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of 30 cocaine-dependent individuals and 36 control subjects who were recreational drinkers. While undergoing brain scans, researchers then presented subjects with personalized cues (situations or events) the participants had indicated were personally stressful and other cues involving cocaine or alcohol.

As expected, cocaine-dependent individuals showed greater activation in broad regions of the brain linked to addiction and motivation than the control subjects. Patterns of activation between the groups, however, differed markedly in men and women when presented with stress or drug cues.


The findings suggest that women with cocaine dependence might benefit from stress-reduction therapies that specifically target these cravings. Men, on the other hand, might derive more benefit from elements of cognitive behavioral therapy or 12-step programs based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The study was supported by the Yale Stress Center, Women’s Health Research at Yale, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and grants from the National Institutes of Health and its Office of Research on Women’s Health.

Source:  http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/triggers-differ-for-addicted-men-women

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Brain Mechanism Linked to Relapse After Cocaine Withdrawal – Research Article

by relieved
March 20th, 2011

ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2010) — Addictive drugs are known to induce changes in the brain’s reward circuits that may underlie drug craving and relapse after long periods of abstinence. Now, new research in the September 9 issue of the journal Neuron, uncovers a specific neural mechanism that may be linked to persistent drug-seeking behavior and could help to guide strategies for development of new therapies for cocaine addiction.


Previous research has shown that the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a brain region that is activated when cocaine users experience a craving for cocaine after being exposed to cocaine-associated cues. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which receives input from the VTA via circuits that use the “reward” neurotransmitter dopamine, has also been implicated in drug craving after cocaine withdrawal. Further, increases in the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been observed in the VTA and mPFC in rats after withdrawal from repeated cocaine exposure.

“BDNF plays a key role in modulating the structure and function of synapses, the sites of communication between neurons. Therefore, increased BDNF after cocaine withdrawal may drive synaptic changes that contribute to compulsive drug seeking behavior,” explains senior author, Dr. Mu-ming Poo from the University of California, Berkeley. “It has been shown that increased BDNF in the VTA after cocaine withdrawal in rats promotes the drug-dependent motivational state. However, nothing is known about the potential BDNF effect on synaptic function and plasticity in mPFC neurons after cocaine withdrawal.”

Dr. Poo and colleagues designed a study to examine how BDNF and the mPFC might contribute to relapse after cocaine addiction. The researchers found that the gradual increase in BDNF expression in the rat mPFC after terminating repeated cocaine exposure significantly enhanced the activity-induced potentiation of specific synapses. Dr. Poo’s group went on to uncover the specific cellular mechanism linking increased BDNF with enhanced synaptic plasticity and demonstrated that interference with the key molecule in the BDNF signaling process reduced behavioral sensitivity after cocaine withdrawal in rats.

“In short, our results demonstrate that elevated BDNF expression after cocaine withdrawal sensitizes the excitatory synapses in the mPFC to undergo activity-induced persistent potentiation that may contribute to cue-induced drug cravings and drug-seeking behavior,” concludes Dr. Poo. Although a clear correlation between rat and human behaviors of cocaine craving and relapse remains to be established, the cellular mechanism uncovered in this study does appear to have behavioral relevance and may represent a direct brain sensitization that is involved in triggering relapse.

The researchers include Hui Lu, Pei-lin Cheng, Byung Kook Lim, Nina Khoshnevisrad, and Mu-ming Poo, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

Story Source: The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Cell Press. “Brain mechanism linked to relapse after cocaine withdrawal.” ScienceDaily 11 September 2010. 20 March 2011 .

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Aerobic Exercise May Reduce Excessive Cocaine Use

by relieved
February 7th, 2011

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2010) — Aerobic exercise may protect against binge-like patterns of cocaine use, suggests a new study. Rats allowed access to running wheels self-administered less cocaine than did rats that were not.

The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.


“Our findings represent the first demonstration that exercise reduces binge-like patterns of cocaine intake,” said senior author Mark A. Smith, PhD, of Davidson College. “This adds to a growing number of studies reporting that physical activity may have beneficial effects on maladaptive patterns of drug use,” he said.

Drug addiction is often characterized by episodes of brief but excessive drug intake, during which individuals exhibit compulsive patterns of drug use. Such “binges” are associated with negative outcomes, including criminal activity, visits to hospital emergency rooms, and high-risk sexual behavior. Interventions that reduce either the duration or severity of these binges could therefore have a significant impact on public health.

“Although randomized clinical trials examining aerobic exercise have not yet been conducted, recent studies report that individuals who participate in exercise-related activities during a formal treatment program maintain higher abstinence rates,” Smith said. “Our findings also support the expanded use of exercise-based interventions in drug addiction treatment.”

Source:  Society for Neuroscience. “Aerobic exercise may reduce excessive cocaine use.” ScienceDaily 23 November 2010. 7 February 2011 .

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Editorial Comment: One of the most important activities in recovery from a cocaine addiction is good exercise, and this research strengthens that theory. If you are even in a self recovery cocaine treatment, make sure you exercise.

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Why Cocaine Is So Addictive: Activation of Specific Neurons Linked to Alterations in Cocaine Reward

by relieved
February 7th, 2011

ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2010) — Mount Sinai researchers have discovered how cocaine corrupts the brain and becomes addictive. These findings — the first to connect activation of specific neurons to alterations in cocaine reward — were published in Science on October 15. The results may help researchers in developing new ways of treating those addicted to the drug.


Led by Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and first author of the study, researchers found that the two main neurons (D1 and D2) in the nucleus accumbens region of the brain, an important part of the brain’s reward center, exert opposite effects on cocaine reward. Activation of D1 neurons increases cocaine reward whereas activation of D2 neurons decreases cocaine reward.

“The data suggest a model whereby chronic exposure to cocaine results in an imbalance in activity in the two nucleus accumbens neurons: increased activity in D1 neurons combined with decreased activity in D2 neurons,” said Dr. Lobo. “This further suggests that BDNF-TrkB signaling in D2 neurons mediates this decreased activity in D2 neurons.”

The study was conducted using optogenetics, a technology to optically control neuronal activity in freely moving rodents.

Opposite cocaine reward similar to those found when activating each neuron is achieved by disrupting brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is a protein in the brain known for its involvement in neuronal survival, learning, and memory and drug abuse signaling through its receptor TrkB in D1 or D2 neurons.

“This new information provides fundamentally novel insight into how cocaine corrupts the brains reward center, and in particular how cocaine can differentially effect two neuronal subtypes that are heterogeneously intermixed in the nucleus accumbens,” said Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Chair of Neuroscience, Nash Family Professor, and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai and co-author on the study. “We can use this information to potentially develop new therapies for cocaine addiction, possibly aimed at altering neuronal activity selectively in either neuronal subtype.”

Source:  Activation of specific neurons linked to alterations in cocaine reward.” ScienceDaily 18 October 2010. 7 February 2011 .

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Editorial Comment: Each and every one reacts differently to cocaine use and new therapies are being researched constantly. And the side effects of cocaine affect in different ways. Seek help before lasting effects overcome your body.

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Why the craving for cocaine won’t go away

by relieved
November 16th, 2010

ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2010) — People who have used cocaine run a great risk of becoming addicted, even after long drug-free periods. Now researchers at Linköping University and their colleagues can point to a specific molecule in the brain as a possible target for treatment to prevent relapses.


Drugs are addictive because they “hijack” the brain’s reward system, which is actually intended to make it pleasurable to eat and have sex, behaviors that are necessary for survival and reproduction.

This “hijacking” is extremely long-lived and often leads to relapses into abuse, especially when the individual is exposed to stimuli in the surroundings that are associated with the drug. In an article in the Journal of Neuroscience the research team can now show that a receptor for the signal substance glutamate (mGluR5), in a part of the brain called the striatum, plays a major role in relapses.

The study, led by David Engblom, associate professor of neurobiology at Linköping University in Sweden, looks at what happens in individuals who lack the glutamate receptor. The experiments were performed on mice that were taught to ingest cocaine.

“Our findings show that the mice who lacked the receptor were less prone to relapse. This is due the fact that their reaction to reward had not been etched into their memories in the same ways as in normal mice. The receptor seems to be a prerequisite for objects or environments that were previously associated with taking drugs, or something else rewarding, to create a craving,” says David Engblom.

He hopes that these findings and other studies of mechanisms underlying drug addiction can lead to forms of treatment based on what goes wrong in the brain of an addict.

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Received from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100916073416.htm#

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Editorial Comment: This article is a good explanation of how the cocaine works on the brain by analyzing the brain function of the cocaine addict.

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