Drug addiction is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by escalating compulsive drug-seeking and drug-using behaviors and by recurrent relapses, constituting a major socioeconomic burden to society. Several brain regions and neurocircuits have been shown to play important roles in addiction-related behavioral alterations. Initially, abused substances activate the reward system leading to pleasurable effects that reinforce their consumption. When drug intake is repeated, these drug rewarding effects gradually diminish while the aversive emotional state that arises in addicts when the abused compound is absent, which is prompted by the stimulation of the antireward brain system, provokes the subsistence of drug use. Eventually, drug intake becomes compulsive due to a loss of self-control over behavior. In addition, relapse in drug use is a common feature of this disorder. Among the factors that contribute to the vulnerability to enter the addiction cycle as well as to the reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior are genes, stress, and environmental or conditioning factors.
Regardless of more than 70 years of research, the cellular and molecular alterations elicited by addictive drugs in the brain and their consequences in the organization of neurocircuits are not fully understood. The initial exposure to the drug is essential for the development of the addictive disorder. Nonetheless, only a low percentage of the population that ever uses drugs becomes an addict, highlighting the relevant role of the interactions between addictive compounds and the biological or environmental risk factors. Besides, the rate of relapses in drug use has remained stable for the last four decades. Hence, a deeper knowledge of the molecular and cellular processes underpinning the addiction cycle will clearly aid to improve the effectiveness of therapeutic strategies to prevent the reinstatement of drug use as well as to develop new psychological and/or pharmacological treatments.
The aim of this Research Topic is to progress in the knowledge of the cellular and molecular adaptive changes evoked by drugs of abuse and the risk factors that increase the vulnerability to enter the addiction cycle, as well as to uncover new therapeutic approaches for its treatment.
• Vulnerability factors involved in drug use and relapses
• Brain cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the addiction stages
• Peripheral alterations induced by abused substances
• Psychological, pharmacological, and environmental interventions for the treatment of substance use disorder
Drug addiction is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by escalating compulsive drug-seeking and drug-using behaviors and by recurrent relapses, constituting a major socioeconomic burden to society. Several brain regions and neurocircuits have been shown to play important roles in addiction-related behavioral alterations. Initially, abused substances activate the reward system leading to pleasurable effects that reinforce their consumption. When drug intake is repeated, these drug rewarding effects gradually diminish while the aversive emotional state that arises in addicts when the abused compound is absent, which is prompted by the stimulation of the antireward brain system, provokes the subsistence of drug use. Eventually, drug intake becomes compulsive due to a loss of self-control over behavior. In addition, relapse in drug use is a common feature of this disorder. Among the factors that contribute to the vulnerability to enter the addiction cycle as well as to the reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior are genes, stress, and environmental or conditioning factors.
Regardless of more than 70 years of research, the cellular and molecular alterations elicited by addictive drugs in the brain and their consequences in the organization of neurocircuits are not fully understood. The initial exposure to the drug is essential for the development of the addictive disorder. Nonetheless, only a low percentage of the population that ever uses drugs becomes an addict, highlighting the relevant role of the interactions between addictive compounds and the biological or environmental risk factors. Besides, the rate of relapses in drug use has remained stable for the last four decades. Hence, a deeper knowledge of the molecular and cellular processes underpinning the addiction cycle will clearly aid to improve the effectiveness of therapeutic strategies to prevent the reinstatement of drug use as well as to develop new psychological and/or pharmacological treatments.
The aim of this Research Topic is to progress in the knowledge of the cellular and molecular adaptive changes evoked by drugs of abuse and the risk factors that increase the vulnerability to enter the addiction cycle, as well as to uncover new therapeutic approaches for its treatment.
• Vulnerability factors involved in drug use and relapses
• Brain cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the addiction stages
• Peripheral alterations induced by abused substances
• Psychological, pharmacological, and environmental interventions for the treatment of substance use disorder