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Addictive behavior observed from long-term cocaine users can be due to changes in the gene expression profiles in the brain's reward circuitry. Most research has been focused on the active regions of the reward-related genes, but Maze et al. [ 3 ] focuses at what happens to the heterochromatic regions .
Cocaine dependence is a neurological disorder that is characterized by withdrawal symptoms upon cessation from cocaine use. [1] It also often coincides with cocaine addiction which is a biopsychosocial disorder characterized by persistent use of cocaine and/or crack despite substantial harm and adverse consequences.
Two studies [18] [19] have shown that an increase in dendritic spine density due to cocaine exposure facilitates behavioral sensitization, while two other studies [20] [21] produce contradicting evidence. In response to drugs of abuse, structural changes can be observed in the size of neurons [22] and the shape and number of the synapses ...
Cocaine increases alertness, feelings of well-being, euphoria, energy, sociability, and sexuality. The former are some of the desired effects of cocaine intoxication. Not having the normal use of mental faculties by reason of the introduction of cocaine is defined drug intoxication by the laws in America, Europe, and most of the rest of the World, and it is a serious crime in specific contexts ...
Being vulnerable to addiction means there is a factor that makes one individual more likely to develop an addiction than another individual. Additionally, many in the science community agree that addiction is not simply just a result of desensitized neural receptors but also a corollary of long-term associated memories (or cues) of substance ...
The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol and other drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. [25] Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur.
“The brain changes, and it doesn’t recover when you just stop the drug because the brain has been actually changed,” Kreek explained. “The brain may get OK with time in some persons. But it’s hard to find a person who has completely normal brain function after a long cycle of opiate addiction, not without specific medication treatment.”
Addiction treatment must also help the individual maintain a drug-free lifestyle, and achieve productive functioning in the family, at work, and in society. Addiction is a disease which alters the structure and function of the brain. The brain circuitry may take months or years to recover after the addict has recovered. [42]