The Brain’s Role in Drug Addiction
Submitted by Ally
- 7 August 2017
Latest research suggests that the impairment of the lateral habenula (LB) – the region of the brain known to register negative experiences – can contribute to the development of drug addiction.
The study, conducted on laboratory rats by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Programme, found that shutting down activity in the LB increased the animals’ efforts to obtain cocaine, despite receiving learnt cues associated with the drug’s unavailability.
Click here to read more in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
