Addiction

Sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone influence opioid addiction and cravings, with women at higher risk for misuse and relapse. Understanding these hormonal effects could improve treatments and prescribing practices.

New research has found that the timing of cannabinoid use during alcohol withdrawal is key, with cannabinoids increasing anxiety at 4-hour withdrawal but reducing it at 24-hour withdrawal, potentially due to changes in neuroimmune cell activity.

Psilocybin reduces alcohol consumption in rats by altering specific brain pathways, suggesting potential for new treatments for alcohol use disorder, according to a study published in Brain.

Adolescent alcohol use is linked to larger hippocampal volumes, while tobacco and cannabis show no such effect, revealing substance-specific impacts on brain development.

Babies exposed to fentanyl in utero exhibited distinct facial and musculoskeletal abnormalities, suggesting a potential new syndrome linked to prenatal opioid exposure.

A study of adolescents found that anxiety, depression, loneliness, and violent experiences increase the likelihood of smartphone overdependence, with girls being more prone than boys.

Internet addiction in adolescents is linked to altered brain connectivity in the default mode, executive control, and salience networks, potentially impacting self-regulation, impulsivity, and attention management.

Alcohol dependence accelerates biological aging, as measured by epigenetic clocks, but a three-week treatment program can significantly decelerate this process and improve biomarkers associated with aging.

Researchers found significant improvements in brain activity related to inhibitory control in individuals with heroin addiction following 15 weeks of inpatient treatment, indicating potential for brain recovery and enhanced self-control in addiction treatment.

Teens are less likely to use alcohol, nicotine, or drugs when they believe their parents are monitoring them, not because of increased punishment, but due to the fear of being caught, a new study has found

Researchers developed a novel rat model to study how using alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress leads to compulsive drinking, revealing significant individual differences.

A large-scale study using artificial intelligence has identified key factors, such as frequency of use and emotional distress, that predict problematic pornography use.

In Alcoholics Anonymous participants with severe alcohol use disorder, women who drank more had higher levels of impulsive reactions to emotions and lower thrill-seeking tendencies, while men who drank more had higher levels of impulsive reactions to positive emotions.

A study found that individuals with problematic pornography use have stronger brain reactions to negative images and rate these images as more unpleasant compared to healthy individuals.

A new study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of loneliness, emotional regulation, and problematic pornography use.