Cocaine
Posted under Cocaine
Study Explores Gray Matter in Relation to Reward in Cocaine Addicts
We often think that gray matter plays an important role in the brain, but just how much impact does it have on our decision-making process? According to a recent release, the thought-processing, decision-making part of the brain relies on gray matter to examine rewards as well as consequences and measure their inherent value. Continue Reading
Posted under Cocaine
Caffeine Addiction Predicts Cocaine Abuse
Caffeinated soft drinks are all the rage among young people, but as researchers find out more about the risks associated with the drinks, parents may want to take notice. Some previous research has found that the popular trend of mixing the drinks with alcohol can result in higher levels of binge drinking. Continue Reading
Posted under Cocaine
Study Finds Female Rats Prefer Cocaine Over Food
A new study reveals surprising results: When given a choice between sweets and cocaine, male rats prefer sweets, and female rats prefer cocaine. Researchers presented the results at the November 2010 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, California.
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Glutamate Receptors Could Play Role in Cocaine Addiction Treatment
Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that is involved with learning and memory, and could help with treating cocaine addiction. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) represent a network of G-protein-coupled receptors that help transmit glutamates, and these receptors could play an important role in treating a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as drug addiction.
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Cocaine Torches to Detect Cocaine Use Among Scottish Club-Goers
"Cocaine torches" (also known as flashlights) are to be issued to pub and club stewards in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in an attempt to tackle drug abuse. They work by illuminating the hairs on the inside of the nose and around the nose area. If cocaine has been taken, it shows up bright green.
Posted under Cocaine
Amino Acid May Help Reduce Cocaine Cravings
A new study in rats has found that N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a commonly available and generally nontoxic amino acid derivative, reverses changes in the brain’s circuitry associated with cocaine addiction. The reversal appears to lessen the cravings associated with cocaine, thus helping to prevent relapse.
Crack Cocaine Addiction
By Leslie Thompson
Sometime during the course of your life, you’ve probably heard the catchphrase “crack is whack.” Although it may produce a few chuckles, crack cocaine is no laughing matter. According to a recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 2.1 million Americans are current cocaine users. Of these, approximately 610,000 are crack users. These statistics are cause for alarm, and something must be done to combat this growing epidemic.
Posted under Cocaine
New Research Reveals Cocaine Addiction’s Impact On The Brain
There are several popular misconceptions circulating in society today as to what exactly addiction is, and whether or not addiction should be treated as a disease by health professionals. To many scientists, addiction has long been associated as a by-product of altered mental states where the brain cannot distinguish between healthy and unhealthy behavior. For example, addictions manifested in the form of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) are thought to arise from abnormal neuron firing in the brain; in other words, the brain of an addict displays the same need for the desired object in the same way that one would crave basic necessities like food or water. However, scientists from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine have revealed surprising information on how an addiction can actually alter the activity of certain proteins and neurons in the brain. This new research can help scientists understand why addiction is so hard to overcome, and how to effectively prevent and treat addict relapses.
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