Addiction clue
A gene essential for normal brain development, and also linked to autism spectrum disorders, plays a critical role in addiction-related behaviors, according to Harvard Medical School (HMS) investigators at McLean Hospital. “In our lab, we investigate the brain mechanisms behind drug addiction, a common and devastating disease with limited treatment options,” said Christopher Cowan, HMS associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Integrated Neurobiology Laboratory at McLean. The findings were published in the latest issue of the neuroscience journal Neuron. “Chronic exposure to drugs of abuse causes changes in the brain that could underlie the transition from casual drug use to addiction. By discovering the brain molecules that control the development of drug addiction, we hope to identify new treatment approaches,” Cowan said. The Cowan lab team, led by Laura Smith, HMS research fellow in psychiatry at McLean, used animal models to show that the fragile X mental retardation protein, or FMRP, plays...