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, ...

For decades, my colleagues and I advanced the premise that early substance use—nicotine, alcohol, or cannabis (or other addicting drugs)—interferes with critical maturation stages, particularly ...

Scientists say they've uncovered striking new evidence of how alcohol addiction impacts the brain's learning systems—and how those systems may slowly adapt during recovery—in a new study published in ...

Ramirez is an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. When philosophers imagined the ship of Theseus, they asked: Can a vessel that has all its planks replaced ...

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have completed a massive genetic study that identifies key biological drivers of cocaine addiction, uncovering a potential new target for ...

GLP-1 drugs show promise for more than weight loss. They also cut substance abuse and are changing how we think about the ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American The prevailing wisdom today is that addiction ...