"Cocaine kills brain": consequences of drug use for brain health

Cocaine quintuples the risk of stroke and accelerates brain ageing

20-Jun-2025 - Cocaine use has increased significantly in Germany. The risks of this drug are hardly known, but they are dramatic, especially with regard to the health of the brain and nervous system: cocaine increases the risk of stroke fivefold, and regular use causes the brain to age more quickly. The ...

An enzyme makes mushrooms “magical”

New study sheds light on the structure and evolution of an enzyme in psychoactive fungi

17-Apr-2024 - An international research team has investigated the biosynthesis of psilocybin, the main ingredient of hallucinogenic mushrooms. They gained new insights into the structure and reaction mechanism of the enzyme PsiM. It plays a key role in the production of psilocybin. The results of the study ...

Brisk walks sup­port smok­ing ces­sa­tion

10-minute walking sessions reduce addictive pressure

03-Jan-2024 - Good news for anyone who wants to quit smoking in the new year: In a recently published study, Innsbruck scientists show that ten-minute brisk walking sessions reduce the cravings of temporarily abstinent smokers and improve their overall well-being. The study is the first to compare the effect ...

Researchers identify key epigenetic markers in vulnerability to developing food addiction

Epigenetic markers affected in the mouse brain were also altered in people’s plasma

10-May-2022 - Ateam of researchers has identified in rodents and humans common epigenetic mechanisms related to food addiction. The article, published inJournal of Clinical Investigation, was led byRafael MaldonadoandElena Martín, from the Neuropharmacology-Neurophar research group at Pompeu Fabra ...

Molecular Switch for Addiction Behaviour

Newly discovered mechanism determines how strongly mice respond to cocaine

21-Dec-2021 - A molecular switch influences addiction behaviour and determines how strong the response to addictive drugs is. A research team at Heidelberg University and the Sorbonne University in Paris (France) made the discovery in mice treated with cocaine. The researchers led by Prof. Dr Hilmar Bading ...

Gene therapy via skin protects mice from lethal cocaine doses

19-Sep-2018 - There are no approved medications to treat either cocaine addiction or overdose. Frequent users tend to become less and less sensitive to the drug, leading to stronger or more frequent doses. The typical result is addiction. Exposure to the drug, or to drug-associated cues, even after long ...

Memory part of the brain may also hold clues for anxiety and depression

17-Apr-2018 - The hippocampus is an area of the brain commonly linked with memory and dementia. But new U of T Scarborough research finds that it may also yield important clues about a range of mental health illnesses including addiction, anxiety and depression. The research, authored by a team of ...

Understanding addiction in the adolescent mind

03-Nov-2017 - Several studies have provided strong evidence that adolescents--people in their teens to early twenties--have a higher vulnerability than adults to addictive substances like cocaine. To understand the origin of the age effect requires a sensor to effectively measuring how cocaine interacts with ...

Preclinical study suggests path toward non-addictive painkillers

27-Oct-2017 - A pre-clinical study led by Indiana University scientists reports a promising step forward in the search for pain relief methods without the addictive side effects behind the country's current opioid addiction crisis. The research finds that the use of compounds called positive allosteric ...

Mechanism explains how seizures may lead to memory loss

18-Oct-2017 - Although it's been clear that seizures are linked to memory loss and other cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease, how this happens has been puzzling. In a study a team of researchers reveals a mechanism that can explain how even relatively infrequent seizures can lead to ...