Natural and drug rewards act on the same neural pathway, the mesolimbic dopaminergic
system. In brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area, drugs …

Addiction is a chronic and relapsing psychiatric disorder that is thought to occur in
vulnerable individuals. Synaptic plasticity evoked by drugs of abuse in the so-called …

Drug addiction shares brain mechanisms and molecular substrates with learning and
memory processes, such as the stimulation of glutamate receptors and their downstream …

Although drugs of abuse have different chemical structures and interact with different protein
targets, all appear to usurp common neuronal systems that regulate reward and motivation …

A central feature of drugs of abuse is to induce gene expression in discrete brain structures
that are critically involved in behavioral responses related to addictive processes. Although …

The ability to learn from and act on reward-associated cues is a critical component of
foraging behavior and, ultimately, survival. In addition to serving as a means by which future …

Background: Drug addiction in humans is associated with abnormal metabolic activity within
the amygdala and heightened control of behavior by drugs and drug-related (conditioned) …

Drug addiction, characterized by high rates of relapse, is recognized as a kind of
neuroadaptive disorder. Since the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is …

The mesolimbic dopamine system is a crucial component of reward and reinforcement
processing, including the psychotropic effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine. Drugs of …

Addiction to psychostimulants has been considered as a chronic psychiatric disorder
characterized by craving and compulsive drug seeking and use. Over the past two decades …