Cocaine News

June 26, 2025

Top Headlines

Physical and Psychological Symptoms of Ketamine Abuse Revealed in Research

May 4, 2025 — Ketamine addiction is linked to high levels of physical health problems and psychological consequences, with nearly half of those affected not seeking support or treatment, new research has ...

Mindfulness Therapy Reduces Opioid Craving and Addiction, Study Finds

May 2, 2025 — Researchers found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain's response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to reduced opioid cravings. The findings suggest that MORE could be a promising tool in the fight ...

Brain Study Increases Understanding of What Triggers Drug Use Relapse

Apr. 14, 2025 — Research on the biological basis of addiction has found that the critical epigenetic enzyme histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) limits the expression of the gene Scn4b, regulating neuronal activity and thereby the formation of strong drug-related ...

A New Path to Recovery: Scientists Uncover Key Brain Circuit in the Fight Against Cocaine Use Disorder

Feb. 27, 2025 — Imagine a future where the grip of cocaine use disorder can be loosened, where cravings fade, and the risk of relapse diminishes. A new study brings this vision closer to reality. The research has ...

Carbohydrate Cravings in Depression

Feb. 5, 2025 — Depression affects 280 million people worldwide. The mental illness has been proven to lead to changes in eating behavior. Researchers have discovered that although patients with depression generally have less appetite, they prefer carbohydrate-rich ...

Researchers 'See' Vulnerability to Gaming Addiction in the Adolescent Brain

Dec. 9, 2024 — Researchers found that adolescents with more symptoms of gaming addiction showed lower brain activity in the region involved in decision-making and reward processing; this blunted response to reward anticipation is associated with higher symptoms of ...

Rats on Cocaine: When Aversion Is Not Enough

Dec. 3, 2024 — Propensity to addiction starts with the very first drug use experience, a new study ...

Dopamine and Serotonin Work in Opposition to Shape Learning

Nov. 26, 2024 — Research shows that reward-based learning requires the two neuromodulators to balance one another's influence -- like the accelerator and brakes on a ...

Exposure to Marijuana in the Womb May Increase Risk of Addiction to Opioids Later in Life, Study Finds

Nov. 15, 2024 — Evidence has been growing to suggest that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, poses risks to the developing fetus by impacting brain development. Now a new ...

Compound in Rosemary Extract Can Reduce Cocaine Sensitivity

Aug. 20, 2024 — A team of researchers has discovered that an antioxidant found in rosemary extract can reduce volitional intakes of cocaine by moderating the brain's reward response, offering a new therapeutic target for treating ...

Cocaine Discovery Could Pave Way for Treatment for Substance Abuse

Aug. 9, 2024 — Cocaine binds to a specific transporter in the brain that is responsible for regulating dopamine levels. Researchers have studied and described the process, producing new knowledge that may bring us a step closer to designing a drug for cocaine ...

Research Shows Protein Isoform Inhibitors May Hold the Key to Making Opioids Safer

July 16, 2024 — Researchers have identified a new way to make opioids safer, increasing the pain-relieving properties of opioids while decreasing unwanted side effects through the spinal inhibition of a Heat shock ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:23pm EDT

Study Identifies Shisa7 Gene as Key Driver in Heroin Addiction

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers have found a unique molecular signature and genes in the orbitofrontal cortex associated with heroin-seeking behavior. A preclinical rodent model implicated a gene called Shisa7 as the ...

Reducing Risk of Opioid Addiction While Alleviating Pain

Dec. 9, 2024 — Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs' ...

Ultra-Low-Dose Ketamine Can Curb Opioid Withdrawal

Sep. 17, 2024 — A pilot study showed that a small amount of ketamine can reduce or eliminate the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting ...

Study Finds Gaps in Mental Health Care for People With Chronic Pain

July 29, 2024 — A new study found that adults with chronic pain are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression than people without chronic pain, yet they access mental health care at lower rates ...

Brain Neurotransmitter Receptor Antagonist Found to Prevent Opioid Addiction in Mice

July 9, 2024 — New research has found a drug that treats insomnia works to prevent the addictive effects of the morphine opioids in mice while still providing ...

Myelination in the Brain May Be Key to 'Learning' Opioid Addiction

June 5, 2024 — Scientists have found that the process of adaptive myelination, which helps the brain learn new skills, can also promote addiction to ...

Internet Addiction Affects the Behavior and Development of Adolescents

June 5, 2024 — Adolescents with an internet addiction undergo changes in the brain that could lead to additional addictive behavior and tendencies, finds a new ...

Hitting the Target With Non-Invasive Deep Brain Stimulation: Potential Therapy for Addiction, Depression, and OCD

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have successfully tested a novel technique for probing deep into the human brain, without surgery, for potential therapeutic purposes. In ...

Exercise Spurs Neuron Growth and Rewires the Brain, Helping Mice Forget Traumatic and Addictive Memories

May 20, 2024 — Researchers have found that increased neuron formation and the subsequent rewiring of neural circuits in the hippocampus through exercise or genetic ...

Researchers Say Future Is Bright for Treating Substance Abuse Through Mobile Health Technologies

May 8, 2024 — Despite the high prevalence of substance abuse and its often devastating outcomes, especially among disadvantaged populations, few Americans receive ...

An Individual's Reward-Seeking Strategy Reflects Responses to Nicotine

Oct. 24, 2024 — Individualistic reward-seeking strategies predict responses to nicotine among mice living in a micro-society, according to a new ...

Unregulated Sales of a Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Endanger Public Health

June 10, 2024 — Americans' interest in a potentially harmful 'magic mushroom' is soaring, according to a new study. The scientists suggest that the growing market for Amanita muscaria may be sparked ...

Faster Approach for Starting Extended-Release Naltrexone to Treat Opioid Use Disorder Shown Effective

May 8, 2024 — Starting people with opioid use disorder on extended-release, injectable naltrexone (XR-naltrexone) within five to seven days of seeking treatment is more effective than the standard treatment method ...

A Common Pathway in the Brain That Enables Addictive Drugs to Hijack Natural Reward Processing

Apr. 18, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a mechanism in the brain that allows cocaine and morphine to take over natural reward processing ...

Economic Burden of Childhood Verbal Abuse by Adults Estimated at $300 Billion Globally

Apr. 11, 2024 — Childhood verbal abuse by adults costs society an estimated $300 billion a year globally, show recent ...

Feeding the Lonely Brain

Apr. 4, 2024 — A new study has found that women who perceive themselves to be lonely exhibited activity in regions of the brain associated with cravings and motivation towards eating especially when shown pictures ...

New Study May Broaden the Picture of the Consequences of Childhood Adversity

Mar. 6, 2024 — A research team has examined the link between adverse childhood experiences and the risk of mental health problems later in life. The researchers have found that the risk of suffering from mental ...

Continued Cocaine Use Disrupts Communication Between Major Brain Networks

Feb. 28, 2024 — New research provides new insights into the brain processes underlying cocaine addiction. The findings are crucial for developing new therapeutics and identifying an imaging marker for cocaine use ...

Supportive, Stable Caregiving in Childhood Protects Heart Health in Adulthood

Jan. 23, 2024 — Previous research has established that childhood experience with abuse, neglect, and substance use in the home can worsen a person's heart health throughout their life. New research, however, ...

Reduced Drug Use Is a Meaningful Treatment Outcome for People With Stimulant Use Disorders, Study Shows

Jan. 10, 2024 — Reducing stimulant use was associated with significant improvement in measures of health and recovery among people with stimulant use disorder, even if they did not achieve total abstinence. This ...

Drugs Used to Treat Type 2 Diabetes Reduce Alcohol Cravings, Use in Individuals With Obesity

Jan. 8, 2024 — An analysis of those posts, together with a remote study of individuals with obesity who reported using semaglutide and tirzepatide, found that the drugs decreased cravings and reduced alcohol ...

Childhood Trauma Increases Risk of Chronic Pain in Adulthood, Research to-Date Highlights

Dec. 19, 2023 — Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, or neglect, either alone or combined with other types of childhood trauma, increases the risk of chronic pain and related disability in adulthood, according to ...

Health Impacts of Abuse More Extensive Than Previously Thought, Research Says

Dec. 11, 2023 — Partners and children who are subject to domestic abuse are more likely to experience certain physical and mental health effects than previously thought, according to a new ...

Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain's Dopaminergic System

Dec. 5, 2023 — A new organoid model of the dopaminergic system sheds lights on its intricate functionality and potential implications for Parkinson's disease. The model replicates the dopaminergic ...

Reducing 'Vivid Imagery' That Fuels Addiction Cravings

Nov. 14, 2023 — New research shows promise in treating addiction cravings by combining eye movements and guided instructions to process memories. Researchers transformed dysfunctional memories stored in the brain ...

Researchers Identify Brain Network That Is Uniquely Activated Through Injection Vs. Oral Drug Use

Nov. 8, 2023 — Results from a new clinical trial suggest that a group of brain regions known as the 'salience network' is activated after a drug is taken intravenously, but not when that same drug is ...

Childhood Trauma Linked to Headaches in Adulthood

Oct. 25, 2023 — People who have experienced traumatic events in childhood such as abuse, neglect or household dysfunction may be more likely to experience headache disorders as adults, according to a meta-analysis. ...

Perception--but Not Expectation--of Reward Is Altered in People With Cocaine Addiction

Oct. 25, 2023 — Researchers report that cocaine addiction disrupts the dopamine neurons that govern how we perceive and learn from rewards. Though people with cocaine addiction have similar expectations of rewards ...

Scientists Says Identifying Some Foods as Addictive Could Shift Attitudes, Stimulate Research

Oct. 9, 2023 — Scientists have published an analysis with a timely and controversial recommendation: It's time for an international shift in the way we think about ultra-processed food and its addictive ...

Calls for Verbal Abuse of Children by Adults to Be Formally Recognized as Form of Child Maltreatment

Oct. 2, 2023 — A new systematic review has highlighted the importance of identifying childhood verbal abuse by adults as a standalone subtype of child maltreatment, to ensure targeted prevention and address the ...