Fentanyl’s powerful pull comes from both the potent, rapid euphoria people feel while on the drug and the devastating symptoms of withdrawal. Researchers have now zeroed in on brain circuits ...

Neuroscientists find that two distinct neural pathways are responsible for the addictive properties of the opioid fentanyl: one mediates reward, the other promotes the seeking of relief from symptoms ...

A new review explores how GLP-1 receptor agonists may blunt alcohol and drug reward signals, opening a promising but still unproven path toward repurposed treatments for addiction. Review: The role of ...

The same drugs that transformed obesity treatment are now being investigated for substance use disorders, fueling interest in ...

New findings published in the journal Nature Neuroscience have shed light on a mysterious pathway between the reward center of the brain that is key to how we form habits, known as the basal ganglia, ...

Scientists have long known that stress and addiction travel together, but the biological connection between a hard day and a hard-to-break habit has been far less clear. New research now identifies a ...

The new study, from Brown University (U.S.), has been conducted on the brains of fruit flies (which serve as the deal model for studying many processes in all organisms, including humans). The ...

Addiction can be defined as compulsive drug use despite wanting to stop. The unwilling addict wants the drug but also wants not to want it. From the outside, drug use looks like a choice but it is not ...

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of ...