For years, addiction was seen as a matter of personal failure—a bad habit or a lack of discipline. People believed those who struggled with substance abuse could stop if they simply wanted to. But ...

Methamphetamine addiction has a way of looping back on itself. A rush of pleasure pulls you in, cravings follow, and the brain learns that the drug is the fastest route to reward. Yet scientists still ...

Alcohol does not simply relax the mind. It rewires it. With repeated use, drinking can splinter the brain’s carefully coordinated networks into scattered, competing circuits that chase the next drink ...

Mindfulness, holistic care, and neuroscience are reshaping addiction treatment and offering hope for recovery. Mindfulness, holistic care, and neuroscience are reshaping addiction treatment and ...

Why someone becomes addicted to a substance has long baffled scientists and philosophers. Now leading researchers are getting the clearest picture yet of how addiction works in the brain and body.

The new method is designed to focus specifically on pain-related signals, without interfering with normal activity in other parts of the brain. A new preclinical study has identified a gene therapy ap ...

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 ...

Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs in the world. It is an opioid that floods the brain with dopamine, a chemical that helps us feel pleasure. This causes a strong feeling of happiness, ...

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, ...

When someone wrongs us, why does getting even feel so good? In his new book, The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World’s Deadliest Addiction—and How to Overcome It, lawyer and revenge researcher ...

Lifelong plasticity is a core principle of neuroscience, yet it operates within real limits shaped by effort, stress and ...