Brain | Addiction Treatment Strategies

Using a combination of genetic engineering and laser
technology, researchers at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill have manipulated brain wiring
responsible for reward-seeking behaviors, such as drug
addiction. The work, conducted in rodent models, is the
first to directly…

In a systematic review of current evidence published in
PLoS Medicine, the authors-Jim McCambridge from the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK, and
colleagues-conclude that there is enough evidence to
recommend that reducing drinking during late
adolescence…

A nice drink cannot do any harm? Brain says no. A new
study by a Chinese research group shows that even low
doses of alcohol can harm the brain immediately though not
permanently. “We were investigating the acute
effects of low and high doses of alcohol by diffusion
tensor imaging,…

Heavy alcohol use suggests a change in normal cognitive
development in adolescents ScienceDaily (2010-10-20)
— Adolescence and puberty is a period of significant
development in the brain. New findings indicate that
excessive alcohol use selectively damages the frontal
lobe, which is…

Nichole Marie Case unwittingly became dependent on opioid
pain drugs. She’s not alone. The National Institute on
Drug Abuse estimated in 2008 that 1.85 million people in
the United States were dependent on or abusing
prescription opioids, also known as Schedule II
painkillers. Americans…

Posted By Barry Ritholtz In Science,Weekend | From the
NYT, these electron microscopy photos are strangely
beautiful: The last few decades have produced an explosion
of new techniques for probing the blobby, unprepossessing
brain in search of the thinking, feeling, suffering,
scheming…

DBT fits well in addiction treatment by Nicholas A. Roes,
PhD We’ll order now what they ordered then, ‘Cause
everything old is new again “Everything Old Is New Again,”
Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager DBT” is a relatively
new construct being used as the wrapping for some…

One can look at drug addiction as a moral issue, a social
ill, or a criminal problem. But Lynn Oswald’s
experience studying the neuroscience of addiction tells
her that it is something else entirely: a disease of the
brain.  “Addiction is a brain disease because
differences in…

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Alcohol exposure during
adolescence alters the body’s ability to respond to
stress in adulthood, according to new research in rats
presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the
Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego. Because
problems…

Nondirective meditation yields more marked changes in
electrical brain wave activity associated with wakeful,
relaxed attention, than just resting without any specific
mental technique.