Prolonged exposure to cocaine can cause permanent changes in the way genes react in the brain. This finding is crucial to the study of addiction and may lead to more effective treatments for many kinds of addiction.
A study of mice conducted by Ian Maze of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City found that chronic cocaine use alters the way genes are switched off and on in the brain’s pleasure center.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, an agency of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, funded the study. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIDA, said that a cocaine addiction kept a specific enzyme from performing its job – shutting off other genes in the pleasure circuits of the brain. This made the mice crave the cocaine even more.
"This finding is opening up our understanding about how repeated drug use modifies in long-lasted ways the function of neurons," said Volkow. The study team gave one group of mice multiple doses of cocaine and gave another group of mice doses of salien, then a single dose of cocaine. The researchers found that cocaine changes the reward circuits in the brain by repressing gene 9A, which produces an enzyme. This enzyme plays a key role in switching genes on or off. This is one of the reasons it is so important to receive treatment for Cocaine addiction www.thetreatmentcenter.com/cocaine-crack-treatment
Other research studies have found that animals exposed to cocaine for an extended period of time experience dramatic changes in the way certain genes are turned on and off, and they develop a strong preference for cocaine.
This NIDA study helps to explain how that occurs and may lead to new ways of conquering addiction. If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction of any kind, we at The Treatment Center can help. Give us a call, 24 hours a day, at 1-877-392-3342 or www.thetreatmentcenter.com
