Udi Ghitza
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Memory Systems of the Addicted Brain: The Underestimated Role of Drug-Induced Cognitive Biases in Addiction and Its Treatment
Drug addiction may be viewed as a form of learning during which strong associations linking actions to drug-seeking are expressed as persistent stimulus–response habits, thereby maintaining a vulnerability to relapse. Disrupting cue–drug memory could be an efficient strategy to reduce the strength of cues in motivating drug-taking behavior. Upon reactivation, these memories undergo a reconsolidation process that can be blocked pharmacologically, providing an opportunity to prevent the powerful control of drug cues on behavior. This conceptually elegant approach still calls for more experimental data. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that drug taking not only accelerates habit forming, but has long-lasting effects on interactions between memory systems eventually leading to a functional imbalance. The dorsal part of the striatum plays a critical role in habit/procedural learning, whereas the hippocampal memory system encodes relationships between events and their later flexible use. Both humans and rodents studies support the view that the hippocampus and the dorsal striatum interact in either a cooperative or competitive manner during learning, the prefrontal cortex being involved in the selection of an appropriate learning strategy. Chronic drug consumption biases normal interactions between these memory systems. For instance, drug-experienced rodents tend to use preferentially striatum-dependent learning strategies in navigational tasks. These persistent effects seem to occur at cellular, neurophysiological and behavioral levels to promote specific, striatal-dependent forms of learning, to the detriment of spatial/declarative, hippocampal-dependent and more flexible types of memory. Whether cue sensitive and response learners, in contrast to spatial learners, could be prone to drug addiction is an intriguing hypothesis which clearly deserves to be further explored. A loss of flexibility may be uncovered also by imposing changing rules on the subject, such as requiring an attentional shift between different perceptual features of a complex stimulus, as in the attentional set shifting task which was recently adapted to rodents. Working memory is at risk during transition phases, although it remains to be determined whether withdrawal-induced alterations are observed also during protracted abstinence. Drug-induced cognitive biases thus lead to cognitive rigidity which could play a critical, yet overlooked role in different phases of addiction (acquisition, extinction/withdrawal and relapse). They are also likely to preclude the clinical efficiency of treatments. Therefore, the aim of this research topic is to provide an overview of the current work investigating the long-term impact of drug use on learning and memory processes, how multiple memory systems modulate drug-seeking behavior, as well as how drug-induced cognitive biases could contribute to the persistence of addictive behaviors.
Green Rush
A state-by-state analysis of the expansion of medical marijuana access in the United States As of 2023, thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Twenty-three have legalized recreational use, supporting what is now a flourishing multibillion-dollar industry. In Green Rush, Daniel J. Mallinson and A. Lee Hannah offer a fascinating history of cannabis legalization in America, highlighting the people, states, and policies that made these victories possible. With sharp insight, Mallinson and Hannah explore the backdrop to this sea change in policy, including shifts in public opinion, growing opposition to the War on Drugs, the promise of new revenue streams, and more. They examine the complex web of state actors—and the steps they took—to chart a path forward for marijuana legalization, from grassroots activists and interest groups to elected officials and other key policymakers. Mallinson and Hannah show us how states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia not only created, legitimized, and spread medical marijuana policy but also learned from each other’s successes and failures throughout the process. As marijuana legalization increasingly finds its way onto state ballots, Green Rush offers fresh insight into how we got here as a country and where we are going—one state at a time.
Imaging of the Human Brain in Health and Disease
Brain imaging technology remains at the forefront of advances in both our understanding of the brain and our ability to diagnose and treat brain disease and disorders. Imaging of the Human Brain in Health and Disease examines the localization of neurotransmitter receptors in the nervous system of normal, healthy humans and compares that with humans who are suffering from various neurologic diseases. Opening chapters introduce the basic science of imaging neurotransmitters, including sigma, acetylcholine, opioid, and dopamine receptors. Imaging the healthy and diseased brain includes brain imaging of anger, pain, autism, the release of dopamine, the impact of cannabinoids, and Alzheimer's disease. This book is a valuable companion to a wide range of scholars, students, and researchers in neuroscience, clinical neurology, and psychiatry, and provides a detailed introduction to the application of advanced imaging to the treatment of brain disorders and disease. - A focused introduction to imaging healthy and diseased brains - Focuses on the primary neurotransmitter release - Includes sigma, acetylcholine, opioid, and dopamine receptors - Presents the imaging of healthy and diseased brains via anger, pain, autism, and Alzheimer's disease