An Overview Of Brain Stimulation Therapies
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New discoveries by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) offer potential for development of a first-ever pharmacological treatment for cocaine addiction. A common beta blocker, propranolol, currently used to treat people with hypertension and anxiety, has shown to be effective in preventing the brain from retrieving memories associated with cocaine use in animal-addiction models, according to Devin Mueller, UWM assistant professor of psychology and a co-author with James Otis of the research.
A new report providing state-by-state analyses of a wide range of behavioral health issues reveals that despite some wide variations among the states in the types and levels of problems they confront – every state must deal with these issues. For example, among those aged 12 and older, Iowa had less than half the current illicit drug use rate of Alaska (5.3-percent versus 13.5-percent) – yet Iowa also was among the top 10 states with the highest levels of people age 12 and older currently participating in binge drinking (28.6-percent). Included in this report is a link to download the full national report.
Women who are clinically depressed at the time they enter drug court have a substantially higher risk of using crack cocaine within four months, according to a new study. Because current but not past depression was associated with a higher risk of use, the study published in the journal Addiction suggests that addressing depression could reduce the number of women who fail to beat crack addiction in drug court.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have identified abnormal brain structures in the frontal lobe of cocaine users’ brains which are linked to their compulsive cocaine-using behavior. The research was led by Dr. Ersche of the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI) at the University of Cambridge. Their findings were published today, 21 June, in the journal Brain.
A study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrated that drug addicted individuals who have a certain genetic makeup have decreased gray matter density – and therefore fewer neurons – in areas of the brain that are essential for decision-making, self-control, and learning and memory. The research, conducted by scientists from Brookhaven Lab, Stony Brook University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is reported in the March 7, 2011 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
A brain-scanning study at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, conducted with collaborators from Stony Brook University, reveals that an oral dose of methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin, improves impaired brain function and enhances cognitive performance in people who are addicted to cocaine. The study suggests that methylphenidate, combined with cognitive interventions, may have a role in facilitating recovery from drug addiction.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a chemical system in the brain that reacts differently in cocaine addicts, findings that could result in new treatment options for individuals addicted to the drug. The findings were published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Recovering addicts who avoid coping with stress succumb easily to substance use cravings, making them more likely to relapse during recovery, according to behavioral researchers. “Cravings are a strong predictor of relapse,” said H. Harrington Cleveland, associate professor of human development, Penn State. “The goal of this study is to predict the variation in substance craving in a person on a within-day basis. Because recovery must be maintained ‘one day at a time,’ researchers have to understand it on the same daily level.”
In a newly published study, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have shown for the first time that the same molecular mechanisms that drive people into drug addiction are behind the compulsion to overeat, pushing people into obesity. The new study, conducted by Scripps Research Associate Professor Paul J. Kenny and graduate student Paul M. [...]
Adolescence is a period of significant developmental change when health patterns are being established. Decisions that youths make about tobacco, alcohol, and drug use can have both immediate and long-term health consequences for themselves, their families, and their communities. Adolescents’ attitudes about the risks associated with substance use are often closely related to their substance use, with an inverse association between drug use and risk perceptions (i.e., as the prevalence of risk perceptions decreases, the prevalence of drug use increases). As such, providing adolescents with credible, accurate, and age-appropriate information about the harm associated with substance use is a key component in prevention programming [1].
