NIDA Notes Archives

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). For current NIDA Notes, please visit nida.nih.gov.

Endocannabinoid Regulates Cocaine Reward

 |  Investigators have shown that 2-AG, an endocannabinoid (i.e., a cannabinoid manufactured within the body, as opposed to plant-derived), augments the cocaine-induced dopamine surge in the brain’s reward system. The discovery...

Impacts of Drugs on Neurotransmission

 |  Drugs can alter the way people think, feel, and behave by disrupting neurotransmission, the process of communication between brain cells. This article discusses the central importance of studying drugs’ effects...

Why Are Our Brains So Big and Powerful?

 |  Why is the human brain so much bigger and more powerful than that of other animals? Researchers have investigated the hypothesis that changes not only in our genes themselves, but...

Quinine as a Tracer for Medication Adherence

 |  Patients who don’t take their medications as prescribed often put themselves at risk for problems including misdiagnoses, complications, and death. A study suggests that adding low doses of quinine to...

Brain Imaging Predicts Relapse to Cocaine

 |  A NIDA-supported study has found that a cocaine-addicted person’s chance of managing 1 whole year of abstinence correlates with activity levels in these impaired motivational and decision-making brain areas.

A Genetic Nexus of Obesity and Smoking

 |  The hypothesis that obesity and nicotine addiction have common genetic and biological roots is buttressed by a recent NIDA-supported study. Researchers showed that some gene variants that influence body mass...

Gene Variants Reduce Opioid Risks

 |  Two recent studies represent early steps toward the goal of personalized therapy for pain and addiction based on patients’ genetic makeup. One study associated a rare variant of the gene...