Rationale Preweanling rats, unlike adults, exhibit context-independent behavioral
sensitization after a single pretreatment injection of cocaine. Objective The purpose of this …

The transition from drug use to drug addiction is associated with a process of escalation,
whereby drug use becomes excessive and difficult to control. Several mechanisms have …

Drug-associated cues can acquire powerful motivational control over the behavior of
addicts, and can contribute to relapse via multiple, dissociable mechanisms. Most preclinical …

Drug addiction is a chronic disease defined by a complex set of characteristics, including
loss of control over drug intake and persistent drug craving, which primarily affects a small …

Although cocaine is powerfully rewarding, not all individuals are equally prone to abusing
this drug. We postulate that these differences arise in part because some individuals exhibit …

Background: One challenge in the treatment of substance use disorders is to re-engage the
interest toward non-drug-related activities. Among these activities, social interaction has had …

Adolescence is a transitional period during development that is associated with a greater
likelihood of addiction to drugs than any other age. One possibility for this observation is that …

Adolescence is a critical juncture when initiation of drug use intersects with profound
developmental changes in the brain. Adolescent drug use increases the risk to develop …

Cocaine use and overdose deaths attributed to cocaine have increased significantly in the
United States in the last 10 years. Despite the prevalence of cocaine use disorder (CUD) …

Studies in humans suggest that women progress more rapidly from initial cocaine use to
addiction. Similarly, female rats can show more incentive motivation for cocaine than male …