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A I Leshner

Publications and source records attributed to A I Leshner.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
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Drugs of abuse and the brain.

New insights into our understanding of drug abuse and addiction have revealed that the desire to use drugs and the process of addiction depend on effects on brain function. Drugs of abuse have been hypothesized to produce their rewarding effects by neuropharmacological actions on a common brain reward circuit called the extended amygdala. The extended amygdala involves the mesolimbic dopamine system and specific subregions of the basal forebrain, such as the shell of the nucleus accumbens, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the central nucleus of the amygdala. The psychomotor stimulants cocaine and amphetamine activate the mesolimbic dopamine system; opiates activate opioid peptide receptors within and independent of the mesolimbic dopamine system. Sedative hypnotics alter multiple neurotransmitter systems in this circuitry, including: 1) gamma aminobutyric acid; 2) dopamine; 3) serotonin; 4) glutamate; and 5) opioid peptides. Nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol both activate mesolimbic dopamine function and possibly opioid peptide systems in this circuitry. Repeated and prolonged drug abuse leads to compulsive use, and the mechanism for this transition involves, at the behavioral level, a progressive dysregulation of brain reward circuitry and a recruitment of brain stress systems such as corticotropin-releasing factor. The molecular mechanisms of signal transduction in these systems are a likely target for residual changes in that they convey allostatic changes in reward set point, which lead to vulnerability to relapse.

Animals↗
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The disease of addiction.

Drug use is a preventable behavior, and addiction is a treatable disease. More than two decades of scientific research have yielded tremendous understanding concerning the nature of addiction and what to do about it. Many tools that can be used by health care providers to aid in the recognition, referral, and treatment for drug abuse and addiction also have been developed. To assist in these efforts, the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently has published the first ever science-based guide to drug treatment: Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment. This guide articulates some essential characteristics of addiction and its treatment and lays out the principles derived from two decades of scientific research that characterize effective treatment programs. This article elaborates many of those points.

Humans↗