Scientists know that addictive drugs can mess with the brain’s circuitry and hijack its reward systems, but a July 31 rat study in the journal Neuron shows that psychological factors may be more instrumental in causing these changes than a drug’s chemical effects are. Cocaine use triggers long-lasting cellular memories in the brain, the study found—but only if the user consumes the drug voluntarily.
A team led by Billy Chen and Antonello Bonci, both at the University of California, San Francisco, trained three groups of rats to press levers that delivered cocaine, food or sugar. The researchers injected cocaine into a fourth group. When they examined the rats’ brain tissue, they found an increase in synaptic strength within the reward center in those rats that had self-administered sugar, food or cocaine. These cellular memories were short-lived in the sugar and food groups, but in rats that had self-administered cocaine they persisted for up to three months after consumption had stopped. Most interestingly, the brains of rats that had consumed cocaine involuntarily did not show such imprints.
The findings illustrate that the pharmacological effects of cocaine alone are not enough to create reward-associated memories, Bonci says. “Instead the motivation for taking the drug seems to be a key component in the process as well.”
The team is working to find ways to remove the long-term cellular memory left by voluntary cocaine use, which eventually could help treat addiction in humans by taking away the desire to actively seek the drug, Chen says.
Note: This article was orignially printed with the title, "Hooked By Choice".
See what we're tweeting about
5 Comments
Add CommentI am a 37 year old female with a 23 year drug addiction. Started with cocaine @ 17 years old, then about three years later it was Meth until a year ago , and back to cocaine. Sad thing was I thanked meth for getting me off of cocaine! I'm not quite sure why I started using cocaine again but- I don't like it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll I want is happiness, and chose the wrong path!-- Although I know I am a good person,I JUST NEED TO FIND THE HELP! My mind thinks it needs drugs to function . I know what I should do but fo some reason ,I don't do it ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell of course. I can't imagine that if some giant creature grabbed me, pinned me down, stuck a huge needle in me and shot me up with cocaine that I would want to self-administer it, either. Why would a rat want to self-administer cocaine after such a traumatizing experience? The link established between a voluntary behavior, cues, etc., and the outcome (pleasure) must be established via the ventral tegmental area - medial forebrain bundle - nucleus accumbens network.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor those of you suffering from an addiction -- trust me, you won't quit until your desire to quit is stronger than your desire to use. You won't quit until you really want to quit. You won't quit until your desire to wind up dead, in prison or an institution, sick and miserable, homeless, etc., with your drug, is outweighed by your desire to live without your drug, no matter what happens. There's help out there (A.A., N.A., C.A., etc), but what good is it if you don't want it?
The <A HREF=http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/>drug rehab center in Columbia</A> has professional team of physicians, certified counselors and nurses, they facilitate drug abusers with an interdisciplinary team that efficiently manages their personalized care. In addition to the skill and experience of the staff, there is also an environment of dedication and caring that is remarkable. Many of their team has experienced the wonder of drug addiction recovery. So this is the place for their addicts or their family in order to seek a complete solution for drug addiction.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.drugrehabscenters.com/
Nowadays lots of treatment centers for cocaine addiction recovery are running in USA and offer various therapies and clinical treatments to stop the addiction problem and give the complete <A HREF=http://www.addiction-treatments.com/substance/Cocaine/index.html>cocaine addiction recovery </A>. These centers also provide the good and peaceful atmosphere for highly addicted people to easily recovery for the cocaine addiction.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.addiction-treatments.com/substance/Cocaine/index.html