Archived News Releases

This is Archived Content. This content is available for historical purposes only. It may not reflect the current state of science or language from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). View current news releases on nida.nih.gov.

Changing the way we view opioid receptors

 |  Newly published research from NIDA funded scientists offers new insight into how opioid receptors work to regulate chemical communication in the brain. The researchers discover unexpected receptor mobility and diffusion...

Healing the altered brains of smokers

 |  A study from NIDA’s Intramural Research Program illuminates the roles of the brain’s striatum and habenula in nicotine withdrawal and reward, suggesting that current medications for smoking cessation are not...

Opioids without the risk of addiction?

 |  Investigators have found that the opioid-galanin receptor heteromers determine the different effects of methadone as compared to morphine and fentanyl, showing methadone with a weaker ability to activate the dopaminergic...

The Genius of Chemogenetics

 |  Some NIDA-funded scientists have just published findings in the journal Science showing the development of a new, groundbreaking chemogenetics technology for modulating brain function in a remote, precise and ultra-sensitive...

The brain in pain

 |  NIDA-funded researchers identified a critical role for an internal brain opioid network called the dynorphin-kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system.

A whole new view of CB2

 |  NIDA-funded scientists have recently identified the crystal structure of the CB1 receptor and have some understanding of how it modulates the system.

New Insights for Astrocytes

 |  Scientists at NIDA's Intramural Research Program have just published a study suggesting that ventral midbrain astrocytes are physiologically distinct from astrocytes in other parts of the brain.

A look at drug craving

 |  Studies using animal models of addiction have shown that drug seeking progressively increases after drug self-administration stops, which is a phenomenon called incubation of drug craving.

E-Cigs linked to heart attacks

 |  An analysis of health data concludes that e-cigarette use, adjusted for smoking conventional cigarettes and other risk factors, is associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction, which is commonly known...