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Researchers scrutinized four transitions in AUD development using data on adolescents and young adults from high-risk families: time to first drink, first drink to first problem, first drink to first diagnosis, and first problem to first diagnosis. Potential influences included parental AUD, parental separation, peer substance use, ever use of marijuana by offspring , trauma exposures, and different psychopathologies across transitions. Results showed that significant influences across all transitions were fairly consistent, with externalizing psychopathologies and ever use of marijuana increasing the likelihood of transition at each stage. Peer and parental influences -- especially maternal AUD -- were linked to initiation and some later stages. Given increasingly permissive attitudes toward marijuana use in the United States, the authors suggest that more research be directed toward understanding the association of AUD development with marijuana use. for more information vi...

A research team led by Oliver Schlüter (University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA) found that cocaine-induced place preference in mice -- returning to places where the drug was previously received -- does not depend on lasting rewiring of neurons in the NAc. This finding is an important step towards a better understanding of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of addictive behavior, paving the way for the development of effective therapeutics. Taking cocaine leads to the generation of immature neuronal contacts called silent synapses in the NAc. Silent synapses, as the name indicates, are not very active. However, after quitting drug abuse, they mature and become stronger, or "unsilenced," as researchers call it. Unsilencing synapses leads to massive NAc rewiring during drug withdrawal and forms the basis of many addictive behaviors. The process may explain why drug craving often increases over time in the first weeks of abstinence. Previous work on silent synapse-based N...

This information could help health care providers identify which older adults are most likely to experience problem drinking and lead to better preventive care for this segment of society. The study, conducted by researchers from the UGA School of Social Work, utilized data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, a nationwide survey of older adults that is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers looked at more than 1,600 individuals aged 57 to 85 who identified as active alcohol consumers. Among problem drinkers, or individuals who reported a high amount of negative consequences associated with alcohol use, the researchers found that more than half -- 66 percent -- reported having multiple chronic health conditions, or MCC, and 28 percent reported having symptoms of depression. The researchers also found that older adults who experienced MCC combined with depression were those who experienced the highest likelihood of problem drinking. "T...

The findings, scheduled for publication in the March 2017 issue of the journal  Computers in Human Behavior , suggest that while heavy gaming, particularly in boys, can be viewed as a warning signal for parents, not everyone who plays many hours a day is at risk for developing problems related to gaming. Some of the downsides of gaming, the researchers say, may be balanced out in those who are socially engaged either online or in real life with friends. In fact, the researchers say, boys with high-quality friendships appear immune from the depression associated with heavy use of video games. Researchers say the findings could inform organizations such as the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric A ssociation that have proposed making Internet Gaming Disorder a condition that would be on par with disorders relating to substance abuse and pathological gambling. "While playing video games for four hours a day can be worrisome behavior, not everyone who does s...

In particular, reducing cocaine use leads to regression of unstable, noncalcified coronary plaques -- the type most likely to cause a heart attack or stroke, according to the new research by Dr. Shenghan Lai of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues. "In the past, there has been excellent work to uncover the consequences of drug use," Dr. Lai comments. "However, few studies have revealed what happens after drug use stops. Studies of this kind give people hope for a healthier life after stopping drug use." Reducing Cocaine Use Leads to Improvement in Coronary Disease Since 2000, the researchers have been studying the development of coronary atherosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries") in more than 700 African-American patients with cocaine use. Previous studies have found that a cash incentive program helps patients to stop using cocaine, or to use it less often. In addition, reducing cocaine use led to decreased levels o f endo...

Using mouse models of acute and chronic pain, Mount Sinai researchers found that RGS9-2, the intracellular protein that controls the function of opioid receptors in the brain reward center, promotes addiction to oxycodone in pain-free, acute, and chronic pain states. Mice that lacked the gene responsible for encoding RGS9-2 (RGS9KO mice) showed less propensity to develop addiction-related behaviors. Furthermore, the loss of RGS9-2 function does not affect the acute analgesic effects of oxycodone. The research team also found that RSG9-2 plays a protective role towards the development of oxycodone tolerance, as RGS9KO mice became tolerant to the analgesic effects of the drug earlier than those that had the gene. Researchers found that the same mechanisms control sensitivity to oxycodone addiction in pain-free as well as chronic pain states. Oxycodone is a painkiller that is widely prescribed for acute and chronic pain conditions and is also among the most abused opioids. Oxycodone...