The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a central component of the brain's reward circuitry, has been
implicated in a wide range of behaviors and emotional states. Emerging evidence, primarily …

Addiction has been conceptualized as a disease of learning and memory. Learned
associations between environmental cues and unconditioned rewards induced by drug …

Background: Neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are sensitive to stress and their
maladaptation have been implicated in the psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and …

Opioid withdrawal generates extremely unpleasant physical symptoms and negative
affective states. A rapid relief of opioid withdrawal-induced anxiety has obvious clinical …

Relapse to drug use is often preceded by drug craving. Clinical observations in the 1980s
led clinical investigators to postulate that cue-induced cocaine craving may increase during …

Converging studies demonstrate the dysfunction of the dopaminergic neurons following
chronic opioid administration. However, the therapeutic strategies targeting opioid …

Cue-induced cocaine craving gradually intensifies following abstinence, a phenomenon
known as the incubation of drug craving. Neuronal ensembles activated by initial cocaine …

In the 'incubation of cocaine craving'model of relapse, rats exhibit progressive intensification
(incubation) of cue-induced craving over several weeks of forced abstinence from cocaine …

Cocaine use disorder is characterized by persistent drug-seeking behavior and a high risk of
relapse, driven by lasting molecular and circuit adaptations in the nucleus accumbens. To …

Schizophrenia is marked by poor social functioning that can have a severe impact on quality
of life and independence, but the underlying neural circuity is not well understood. Here we …