Researchers Identify New Brain Pathways Linked to Addiction

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http://neurosciencenews.com/researchers-identify-new-brain-pathways-linked-to-addiction/


           Addiction is a problem that is prevalent in many people’s lives whether it is through a friend, family member, or themselves. Drug therapies can be found in hospitals and health centers all over the country, however they are not as beneficial as they could be due to the lack of information. Scientists are still working to completely understand how the brain’s neural  circuits contribute to different forms of relapse and addiction. Experiments have been done on rats that show that when you manipulate different pathways in the brain, drug seeking behaviors and motivations for alcohol and other substances can be reduced. The next step in this process is putting this on a larger scale and develop treatments for substance abuse in humans that would include deep brain stimulation 

          Studies have shown that the brain’s Ventral Pallidum (VP), which is mainly responsible for regulating behaviors, emotions, and motivations, also plays a role in a variety of drug abuse. More importantly than that it is the key region in the brain that promotes relapse, which is the time that most neurons in the VP are activated. Researchers from UNSW have also identified two specific VP pathways that are main contributors in forms of alcohol relapse. These two pathways include the Subthalamic Nucleus and the Ventral Tegumental Area (VTA) which are both switched on during relapse behaviors. Through experiments with rats they have shown hat when these pathways in the brain are switched off, drug seeking behavior and motivation for alcohol were reduced. These findings make scientists hopeful that this will open up the potential of using stimulation deep in the brain as a possible treatment for addiction. As of right now this type of stimulation on the subthalamic nucleus is used as treatment to manage Parkinson’s but has not be tested for addiction yet. 


  In class we have talked about certain areas of the brain that are connected to addiction including the VTA which is typically responsible for pleasure and motivation. However, we focused more on which part of the brain causes the withdrawal of a certain substance rather than the addiction. So it is interesting to look at the various parts of the brain that may play a role in addiction and more than one of them would need to be manipulated in order to see a difference in behavior.  This is also novel research so it will be interesting to find out if it has the same impact on humans that it did in rats. One problem that I believe they might run into would be obtaining individuals willing to go through the deep brain stimulation that is required for this treatment. It seems like a complicated procedure and it would be interesting to look at the risks that may be involved and that may have an impact on the number of people willing to participate in this study or in this type of treatment. 

Comments

  1. LaurenHoffmanTUNovember 28, 2016 at 9:35 PM

    This article is very interesting because this summer i interned at an addiction treatment center. Now im thinking about how that could effect these peoples lives if they were able to figure out the pathway to addiction.

    ReplyDelete

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