Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed
Sunday, October 30, 2011 - 11:20
in Psychology & Sociology
Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but also become themselves susceptible to addiction.The glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress. Remarkably, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse these brain changes (including the addictive behavior) by giving animals the brain chemical dopamine. read more