ÜDS-2010-Spring-11

ÖSYM • osym
March 21, 2010 1 min

A study by a group of scientists has resulted in a major step forward in overcoming drug addiction. As addiction was known to cause molecular changes in the brains of addicts, causing their neurons to transmit much stronger signals of dopamine, a messenger molecule involved in reward-seeking behaviours, the scientists were hoping to prove experimentally that certain key proteins in the dopamine-producing neurons influence drug addiction. It was an inspired guess, as the study found that mice in which these key proteins had been selectively switched off displayed clear addictive behaviour. For instance, mice in which the CluR1 protein was switched off showed a much longer period of dependence. Conversely, re-administration of cocaine after a long break immediately re-ignited the addiction, but mice whose NR1 protein had been deactivated resisted relapsing into addictive behaviours. The ability of these proteins to determine addictive behavioural patterns makes them fascinating.


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