Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic, relapsing disease with a highly multifaceted
pathology that includes (but is not limited to) sensitivity to drug-associated cues, negative …

There is increasing evidence in humans and laboratory animals for biologically based sex
differences in every phase of drug addiction: acute reinforcing effects, transition from …

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays an important role in motivation and reward processing.
Recent studies suggest that different NAc subnuclei differentially contribute to reward …

Dopamine D2-autoreceptors play a key role in regulating the activity of dopamine neurons
and control the synthesis, release and uptake of dopamine. These G i/o-coupled inhibitory …

Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the nervous system to respond to intrinsic or
extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, function and connections. Major advances in …

A widely held dogma in the preclinical addiction field is that females are more vulnerable
than males to drug craving and relapse. Here, we first review clinical studies on sex …

Addictive drugs have in common that they target the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA)
system. This system originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects mainly to the …

N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) targets a diverse array of factors germane to the pathophysiology of
multiple neuropsychiatric disorders including glutamatergic transmission, the antioxidant …

System xc‐is an amino acid antiporter that typically mediates the exchange of extracellular l‐
cystine and intracellular l‐glutamate across the cellular plasma membrane. Studied in a …

Background and rationale Results from many clinical studies suggest that drug relapse and
craving are often provoked by acute exposure to the self-administered drug or related drugs …