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Study stops stress-based drug relapse in rats

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2013Health, Scienceabigail polter, addiction recovery, basic brain research, blocking a step, brain region, brown university, drug relapse, gaba releasing neurons, julie kauer, kappa opioid receptors, long-term potentiation, ltp, neuron, nor bni, rat models, rats, relapse, relapse mechanism, stress based drug, stress related, therapeutic targets, university of pennsylvania, ventral tegmental area, vta

In a new study in Neuron, scientists identified specific key steps in the chain of events that causes stress-related drug relapse. They identified the exact region of the brain where the events take place in rat models and showed that by blocking a step, they could prevent stress-related relapse.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — All too often, stress turns addiction recovery into relapse, but years of basic brain research have provided scientists with insight that might allow them develop a medicine to help. A new study in the journal Neuron pinpoints the neural basis for stress-related relapse in rat models to an unprecedented degree. The advance could accelerate progress toward a medicine that prevents stress from undermining addiction recovery. (more…)

The Placebo Effect Goes Beyond Humans, UF Researchers Find

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Rats and humans have at least one thing in common: They both react the same way to a placebo, according to a new University of Florida study.

“That was the big finding — that the animals that expected pain relief actually got pain relief when you gave them an inert substance,” said co-author John Neubert, a pain specialist and an associate professor with the UF College of Dentistry department of orthodontics. “It helps validate our model that what we do in the rats, we believe, is a good representation of what’s being seen in humans.”

The investigation of placebo effects might lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets in the brain and of novel treatment strategies for a variety of health conditions. (more…)

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Study stops stress-based drug relapse in rats

The Placebo Effect Goes Beyond Humans, UF Researchers Find