Addiction is one of the most intensely studied conditions in modern medicine, yet even with high‑resolution brain scans and ...

Does using alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis engender addiction by changing the structure of brains, or does the structure of brains incline some people toward using those substances? In standard brain ...

A new study published in the journal Science Signaling has found that an immune system protein plays a central role in the ...

Meth is addictive because it increases dopamine levels in the brain. While researchers know that meth triggers brain inflammation, whether the immune system also affects the brain’s reward system ...

One way to get that pleasure is to seek retaliation. Additional brain scan studies have shown that when people imagine ...

A shaky hand, a racing heart, a wave of dread; alcohol withdrawal can feel like your body has turned against you. For many ...

Matt Field receives research funding from the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Alcohol Change UK, and the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling. He is a trustee of ...

Nicotine addiction remains one of the most persistent public health challenges worldwide, driven by changes in the brain that reinforce repeated use and make quitting extremely difficult. For decades, ...

Remarkable scientific progress over the past five decades has helped us develop knowledge of how drugs of abuse induce pleasure, reinforce use, and lead to the compulsive self-administration we call ...

Gene therapy ‘switch’ may offer non-addictive pain relief. New approach targets pain signals while leaving the rest of the brain untouched.

For decades, my colleagues and I advanced the premise that early substance use—nicotine, alcohol, or cannabis (or other addicting drugs)—interferes with critical maturation stages, particularly ...