The cover image is based on the Original Article Self-control impacts symptoms defining Internet gaming disorder through dorsal anterior cingulate–ventral striatal pathway by Liangyu Gong et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13210.

By means of reversed in vivo microdialysis, regular acamprosate increases nucleus accumbens dopamine and taurine levels—an effect involving accumbal glycine receptors. The sodium salt of acamprosate also has dopamine and taurine elevating properties when administered in combination with calcium, which is demonstrated to be potentiated as compared with the drugs given alone. Hence, the elementary components of acamprosate may act through different mechanisms providing the pharmacological effect of the drug.

High drinking in the dark lines of mice (HDID-1 and HDID-2) and their founder line (HS/NPT) were tested for their willingness to consume several addictive drugs. No genotype differences were observed for methamphetamine (40 μg/ml) intake, but both HDID lines drank significantly more midazolam (150 μg/ml) than their founders. Further, HDID-2 mice, but not HDID-1 mice, consumed more morphine (700 μg/ml) and more nicotine across a range of concentrations than HS/NPT mice.

25CN-NBOMe readily passes the blood–brain barrier, and the substance was removed from the body at a relatively slow rate. The drug exhibits a moderate level of toxicity. Hypothermia was observed in single-housed rats, and the drug's behavioural effect was comparable with other NBOMes represented by inhibition of locomotor activity, increased anxiety and impaired sensorimotor gating. Created with a BioRender.com.

A dual-compartment operant conditioning apparatus was used to train rats to self-administer cocaine using a peer as a discriminative stimulus. Following extinction, the cocaine-associated peer reinstated drug seeking, whereas the saline-associated peer did not. The reinstatement elicited by the cocaine-associated peer overshadowed the effect of the cue light conditioned stimulus activated by pressing on the active lev.

The current meta-analysis of human laboratory studies demonstrated that varenicline significantly reduced craving, withdrawal and behavioural indices of smoking relative to placebo. In contrast, results were inconclusive regarding bupropion's effects on craving, withdrawal and behavioural indices of smoking. Findings suggest the need to ensure laboratory protocols are designed to model the behavioural or contextual phenomena that might be critical for capturing relevant medication effects.

Two groups of rhesus monkeys self-administered cocaine and drank either a solution that contained ethanol or a control solution. Positron emission tomography (PET imaging) and observable behaviour were used to track changes in brain dopamine D2 and D₃ receptor function. Chronic ethanol drinking increased D₃ receptor sensitivity while obscuring the effect of cocaine on D2 receptors.

Disrupting NMDA receptor signaling by PSD95-nNOS protein–protein interactions inhibitors blocked morphine-induced CPP, attenuated morphine-induced increases in DA efflux and reduced morphine relapse.

The use of areca nuts (areca) in the form of betel quids constitutes the fourth most common addiction in the world. Our data suggest that toxic elements of high molecular weight may contribute to the oral health liability of betel quid use, while two distinct low molecular weight components may provide elements of reward, and the nicotinic activity of arecoline contributes to the physical dependence of addiction.

We used the four core genotypes (FCG) mouse model to investigate the influence of gonadal hormones and sex chromosome complement on EtOH drinking behaviours, including the alcohol deprivation effect. Escalated intake following repeated cycles of deprivation and re-exposure emerged only in XX mice (vs. XY). These results demonstrate that aspects of EtOH drinking behaviour may be independently regulated by sex hormones and chromosomes.

This study revealed disrupted neural causal interactions among parts of the reward network associated with tobacco addiction. We found abnormalities within the mesocorticolimbic system and a top-down regulation disorder in the dopamine-dependent process of response inhibition and salience attribution among long-term smokers, which may facilitate the development of effective therapies in tobacco addiction.

Prenatal methadone exposure leads to long-term alterations of male and female recognition and working memory, with female offspring showing more sensitivity. Female offspring also show decreased excitability and increased inhibition of hippocampal dentate granule cells.

We explored the combination of quetiapine and methadone or morphine using autopsy data, a survey of drug users and animal studies of sedation. Quetiapine was found with increasing frequency in fatal opioid poisonings over time and was used unauthorized by drug users. No additive effects of quetiapine and methadone or morphine were evident.

We investigated differences in quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns associated with game usage patterns and genre among patients with Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Single game users showed increased absolute beta power in the frontal region compared with controls, which was associated with tendencies towards behavioural inhibition. Only first-person shooter (FPS) gamers showed increased delta power in the frontal region compared with controls, which was related to the severity of IGD.

Here, we report the results of two studies investigating the effects of alcohol on different components of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) system in heavy-drinking individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). In the first study, alcohol administration was associated with an acute reduction in peripheral GLP-1 concentrations. In the second study, individuals with AUD, compared to controls, showed higher expression of the GLP-1 receptor gene in the brain (hippocampus and prefrontal cortex).

Relative to controls, early-abstinent participants with methamphetamine use disorder exhibited widespread cortical thinning (p-values <0.001, lower p-values coloured brighter, n = 89 per group). Among participants with methamphetamine use disorder, depressive symptoms were positively correlated with cortical thickness across all significant clusters (β = 0.239, p = 0.030) and with thickness in the anterior cingulate cluster (β = 0.246, p = 0.027), suggesting that grey matter loss accompanies processes that promote cortical thickening and depressive symptoms.

Repeated cocaine use induces neuroadaptations that underlie cocaine addiction as shown in the pathway enriched in mmu-miR-34b-5p target genes. In this pathway, 6 out of 48 genes are mmu-miR-34b-5p predicted or validated target genes.

In this study, we evaluated the effect of acute alcohol administration on circulating endocannabinoid levels in humans by analysing data from two highly-controlled alcohol administration experiments: a placebo-controlled intravenous clamping study and an intravenous alcohol self-administration study. During the intravenous clamping study, acute alcohol administration reduced circulating AEA but not 2-AG levels when compared to placebo. This finding was confirmed in the self-administration paradigm, where alcohol reduced AEA levels in an exposure-dependent manner.

We found that ageing was accelerated by 3.64 years in alcohol use (AUD) disorder patients compared with the control group according to Levine's DNAm PhenoAge. Furthermore, in a second longitudinal sample, we found that abstaining AUD patients displayed a decrease in DNAm PhenoAge by 3.1 years, but we found an over proportional increase by 2.7 years in those who relapsed. These results confirm the age acceleration associated with AUD and provide the first evidence for a recovery of this effect upon abstinence from alcohol.

Gut microbiota plays an important role in ethanol-induced anxiety-like behaviour by altering the function of the GABA system, endotoxin and IL-6 may mediate the connection between the gut microbiota and the expression of GABAA receptor in the prefrontal cortex.

We investigated the prosocial decision-making of individuals with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). Participants made a series of choices between two pairs of monetary prizes for themselves and for others. In two studies, we consistently found that individuals with MUD made fewer prosocial choices than healthy individuals in disadvantageous contexts. The results of the computational model suggested that the lower prosociality of individuals with MUD in disadvantageous contexts could be attributed to the lower weight placed on others' benefits.

Using the conditioned suppression of eating paradigm, we show that diet-induced obese (DIO) rats fail to reduce their kcal intake and latency to start eating in the presence of an aversive signal (cue light that previously signalled foot shocks). Eating despite negative consequences in DIO rats was accompanied by an increase in the addiction score and dysregulated glutamate in the nucleus accumbens (NAc).

Mixed-effects modeling showed faster volumetric declines in the caudal middle frontal cortex, fusiform, inferior frontal, superior temporal (STG), and supramarginal (SMG) gyri, at −0.046 to −0.138 cm3/year in individuals with prior-year alcohol and cannabis co-use, but not those engaged in alcohol or cannabis use only. These findings cannot be explained by more severe alcohol use among co-users. Further, alcohol and cannabis co-use in early versus late adolescence predicted a faster volumetric decline in the STG and SMG across biological sex.

The ventral striatum (VS) connectivity to dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) correlates with both self-control and IGD. The VS connectivity to the amygdala-parahippocampus region makes an additional contribution to IGD.

Sex and age may influence the brain's vulnerability to binge alcohol exposure. Here, we find that age and sex interact to influence alcohol-induced whole brain volume measures with adolescent female mice at heightened vulnerability compared to other groups of mice. The cerebellar and somatosensory cortices were affected, demonstrating that age and sex influence global and region brain volumes in mice.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a relapsing–remitting condition characterized by excessive and/or continued alcohol consumption despite harmful consequences. New adjuvant tools, such as noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, might be helpful additions to conventional treatment approaches or maybe even provide an alternative option for patients who fail to adequately respond to other treatment options. Here, we discuss the potential use of auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (atVNS) as an ADD-ON intervention in AUD.

Alcohol-dependent participants showed lower fractional anisotropy (FA) within the corpus callosum compared with healthy controls. This change was negatively associated with lifetime alcohol and nicotine exposure, and there was no evidence of FA recovery despite prolonged abstinence. A group-by-age interaction was observed, whereby greater age-related reductions in FA were evident in AD participants, but no further reductions in FA were observed in alcohol-polysubstance relative to alcohol-only-dependent participants.