Alcohol and drugs rewire your brain by changing how your genes work – research is investigating how to counteract addiction's effects

Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of addiction can change how researchers and clinicians approach treatments.

Karla Kaun, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Brown University • conversation
Jan. 22, 2024 ~8 min

To better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature

This course beckons students to examine how alcoholic beverages are portrayed in books by American authors.

Debra J. Rosenthal, Professor of English, John Carroll University • conversation
Oct. 26, 2023 ~5 min


Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications like methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone

Prescription medications can help people with opioid use disorder avoid the risks of relapse and overdose. But stigma based on misperceptions about addiction limits their use.

Melissa Cyders, Professor of Psychology, Indiana University • conversation
July 13, 2023 ~6 min

Your body naturally produces opioids without causing addiction or overdose – studying how this process works could help reduce the side effects of opioid drugs

Unlike opioid drugs like morphine and fentanyl that travel throughout the body, the opioids your body produces are released in small quantities to specific locations.

John Michael Streicher, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, University of Arizona • conversation
May 30, 2023 ~7 min

I treat people with gambling disorder – and I’m starting to see more and more young men who are betting on sports

In the past, typical clients tended to be retirees living on fixed incomes who played slots and card games.

Tori Horn, PhD Student in Clinical Psychology, University of Memphis • conversation
Feb. 7, 2023 ~7 min

Cigarette advertising aggressively targets kids in low- and middle-income countries, a new study finds

In places around the world that lack restrictions to combat the problem, tobacco companies are using marketing strategies aimed at children, like displaying tobacco products at kids’ eye level.

Jennifer Brown, Researcher in Public Health, Johns Hopkins University • conversation
Aug. 10, 2022 ~5 min

How shops use psychology to influence your buying decisions

Retailers have a range of strategies to encourage us to spend more - but they can help us to make healthier choices too.

Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Reader in Consumer Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University • conversation
April 7, 2022 ~7 min

What's the 411 on the new 988 hotline? 5 questions answered about a national mental health service

New federally funded mental health help line features easier access and more consistent regulation.

Derek Lee, Doctoral Student in Counselor Education and Supervision, The Ohio State University • conversation
March 28, 2022 ~6 min


Gambling: what happens in the brain when we get hooked – and how to regain control

There is evidence to suggest that dopamine plays a key role in gamling addiction.

Sam Chamberlain, Professor of Psychiatry , University of Southampton • conversation
Feb. 16, 2022 ~8 min

Wordle has been hacked – but that's not going to ruin the fun

This deceptively simple online word guessing game has captured the English-speaking world.

John Dixon, Lecturer, Computer Science, University of Hull • conversation
Jan. 26, 2022 ~8 min

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