Rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have increased in women by 84% over the past ten
years relative to a 35% increase in men. This substantive increase in female drinking is …

There is increasing evidence in humans and laboratory animals for biologically based sex
differences in every phase of drug addiction: acute reinforcing effects, transition from …

The mesolimbic dopamine system—which originates in the ventral tegmental area and
projects to the striatum—has been shown to be involved in the expression of sex-specific …

Epidemiological data demonstrate that while women report lower rates of drug use than
men, the number of current drug users and abusers who are women continues to increase …

Comorbidity is a major issue in psychiatry that notably associates with more severe
symptoms, longer illness duration, and higher service utilization. Therefore, identifying key …

Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) is a behavioral procedure in which operant responding is
maintained by pulses of electrical brain stimulation. In research to study abuse-related drug …

Pain is a multidimensional experience and negative affect, or how much the pain is
“bothersome”, significantly impacts the sufferers' quality of life. It is well established that the κ …

Behavioral, biological, and social sequelae that lead to drug addiction differ between men
and women. Our efforts to understand addiction on a mechanistic level must include studies …

The dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system is implicated in the “dark side” of
addiction, in which stress exacerbates maladaptive responses to drug and alcohol …

Since the serendipitous discovery of the first class of modern antidepressants in the 1950's,
all pharmacotherapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration for major depressive …