Too Many Rating Scales: Not Enough Validation.
Too many rating scales: Not enough validation.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Addiction. 2013 Jan; 108(1): 11-2
Raistrick D
The risks of action without evidence.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Addiction. 2013 Jan; 108(1): 10-1
Harris AH
Robust measurement is critical but not sufficient.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Addiction. 2013 Jan; 108(1): 9-10
Teesson M
Hippocampal neurogenesis protects against cocaine-primed relapse.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Addict Biol. 2012 Dec 24;
Deschaux O, Vendruscolo LF, Schlosburg JE, Diaz-Aguilar L, Yuan CJ, Sobieraj JC, George O, Koob GF, Mandyam CD
Accumulating evidence demonstrates a functional role for the hippocampus in mediating relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior and extinction-induced inhibition of cocaine seeking, and dentate gyrus neurogenesis in the hippocampus may have a role. Here, we tested the hypothesis that disruption of normal hippocampal activity during extinction alters relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior as a function of dentate gyrus neurogenesis. Adult rats were trained to self-administer cocaine on a fixed-ratio schedule, followed by extinction and cocaine-primed reinstatement testing. Some rats received low-frequency stimulation (LFS; 2?Hz for 25 minutes) after each extinction session in the dorsal or ventral hippocampal formation. All rats received an injection of the mitotic marker 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to label developing dentate gyrus neurons during self-administration, as well as before or after extinction and LFS. We found that LFS during extinction did not alter extinction behavior but enhanced cocaine-primed reinstatement. Cocaine self-administration reduced levels of 24-day-old BrdU cells and dentate gyrus neurogenesis, which was normalized by extinction. LFS during extinction prevented extinction-induced normalization of dentate gyrus neurogenesis and potentiated cocaine-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. LFS inhibition of extinction-induced neurogenesis was not due to enhanced cell death, revealed by quantification of activated caspase3-labeled cells. These data suggest that LFS during extinction disrupts hippocampal networking by disrupting neurogenesis and also strengthens relapse-like behaviors. Thus, newly born dentate gyrus neurons during withdrawal and extinction learning facilitate hippocampal networking that mediates extinction-induced inhibition of cocaine seeking and may play a key role in preventing relapse.
HubMed – addiction
The Promise and Peril of the Pharmacological Enhancer Modafinil.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Bioethics. 2012 Dec 20;
Tannenbaum J
The neuro-enhancement Modafinil promises to dramatically increase users’ waking hours without much sacrifice to clarity of thought and without serious side effects (inducing addiction). For Modafinil to be advantageous, its usage must enable access to goods that themselves improve the quality of one’s life. I draw attention to a variety of conditions that must be met for an experience, activity or object to improve the quality of one’s life, such as positional, relational, and saturation conditions, as well as it’s being good for its own sake. I discuss and describe the contexts in which widespread usage (legal or not) of Modafinil would undermine these conditions being met, and thus users would fail to significantly improve the quality of their lives and would in fact potentially make both themselves and nonusers worse off in important respects thus far overlooked by critics. In the right contexts, where free time is protected and prolonged, Modafinil does have a variety of potential benefits including, most interestingly, a distinctive form of agency possible only in free time. The potential disadvantages and advantages highlighted in this article are relevant not only to public institutions deciding whether to legalize Modafinil’s use as an enhancement but also to individuals deciding whether to use it illegally, as well as to the questions of how and whether to alter key features of one’s context (e.g. regulating work hours or extending social services) rather than, or in addition, to regulating the use of enhancement drugs such as Modafinil.
HubMed – addiction
Tony Tan’s Crime Confession Part 2.mov – Our Counsellor Tony Tan reveals his dark past in part two of this inspiring documentary.
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