Psychostimulant Addiction: A Learning Disease
You may have heard that addiction is a disease, but this disease uniquely harms the body – it attacks learning. Psychostimulant Use Disorder (PUD) is a chronic...
Tag: glutamate
Medicating Addiction
What is Addiction Addiction is a chronic dependence on a substance. The condition involves compulsive seeking and persistent use despite the negative contributi...
The Brain Mess That is Drug Addiction
Have you ever wondered what happens to the brain of someone who is addicted to drugs, or why they feel pain when going through withdrawal? When it comes to psyc...
Addiction Rewires the Brain
Drug use leads to increased dopamine and glutamate, which causes alterations in the reward circuit of the brain, increasing synaptic plasticity, and reinforcing...
Understanding Addiction: Why It Matters and How We Can Make a Difference
Addiction is a pervasive issue that touches the lives of millions of people worldwide. Whether it’s substance abuse, such as alcohol or drug...
The Many Pathways of Parkinson’s
A friend of mine is quite fond of tattoos. She has several, and they all have their own special meaning. My favorite of hers, though, is the words “I love you” ...
Current Progress in ALS Research
The body is the vessel through and by which we experience the world. To be unable to interact with it physically while being mentally aware is arguably the scar...
Hope for suppressing the addictive effects of prescription opioids?
When someone hears the word Vicadin or morphine they might often think about the negative effects of these drugs as they are extremely addictive and are also us...
Morphine, Vicodin, and Oxycodeine: Why are opioids used when they are so addictive?
You may be familiar with several of the popular opioid medications (morphine, vicodin, and oxycodone) prescribed to people with severe pain. Also, you may have ...
Glutamate antagonists: the answer for opioid dependence?
In 3400 BC, the Sumerians first cultivated the opium poppy plant. Since its discovery, opiates have been used medicinally to relieve pain, and more recently, to...