Cocaine

Brief drug use disrupts learning mechanisms in the brain

In a new animal study, scientists at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program have demonstrated that cocaine use profoundly disrupts these teaching signals.

Cues give clues in relapse prevention

Scientists at NIDA's intramural research labs in Baltimore, Maryland have shown that discriminative stimuli can control the incubation of drug craving, even in the absence of conditioned stimuli.

Transcription Factor E2F3a Mediates Cocaine’s Effects on Gene Expression and Addiction-Related Behaviors

NIDA-supported researchers have shown that increased levels of a single protein in the brain's reward center are indispensable for producing some of cocaine's addiction-like effects in animals. Their findings highlight the involvement of a specific set of genes in the production of behavioral responses to cocaine and could point the way to medications to reduce the drug's hold on people.

Disruption of Serotonin Contributes to Cocaine’s Effects

This research: Traced the effects of cocaine-induced disruption of serotonin regulation in the ventral pallidum and orbitofrontal cortex. Suggests that these effects may contribute to drug-seeking and cocaine-associated cognitive impairments. Cocaine causes addiction and cognitive deficits, resulting in uncontrolled use of the drug and impaired decision making. New NIDA-supported research suggests that the drug may produce these problems in part by disrupting regulation of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Cocaine blocks the transporters for dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, causing

Cocaine-Induced Increase in an Immune Protein Promotes Addiction Behaviors in Mice

This research found that: Cocaine produces a portion of its rewarding effects by increasing levels of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in the brain’s reward center. Treatments that prevent G-CSF signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) might reduce motivation to use cocaine. Dr. Erin Calipari, Dr. Drew Kiraly, and colleagues from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have identified granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) as a potential target for medications to treat cocaine use disorder. Their work suggests that medications which modulate G-CSF levels

Compound identified as possible medication target for cocaine use disorder

NIH-funded scientists have now identified a compound that shows promise in reducing self-administration of cocaine in mice.

How Cocaine Cues Get Planted in the Brain

This research found that: An epigenetic mechanism underlies the powerful cocaine–environment associations that promote relapse. The mechanism may be instrumental in all drug reward–based learning. A NIDA-sponsored study sheds light on how cocaine creates the powerful drug–environment associations that underlie cue-induced drug seeking and relapse. Researchers found that cocaine blocks an epigenetic process which limits the strength of synapses that link rewarding experiences with associated environments. The new findings suggest that a gene regulator called histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) may

Non-psychoactive cannabinoid may enable drug addiction recovery

Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may help reduce the risk of drug and alcohol relapse.

A “New Vista” for Treating Cocaine Addiction

Two recent studies suggest that medications that activate a pair of opioid receptors may weaken cocaine users’ drive to take the stimulant.

Oxytocin protocol appears workable and safe for methadone patients who use cocaine

Researchers supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse have developed a protocol for adjunctive oxytocin treatment, and a pilot study has indicated that it is workable and safe for MMT patients.

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