Stanford neuroscientists target drug-associated memories as a way to prevent relapse

Removing memories associated with morphine use from the brains of mice enables Stanford researchers to prevent relapse and could point to a new approach for treating the opioid epidemic…Both the reward of the drug “high” and the alleviation of agonizing withdrawal symptoms can serve as powerful memory cues that trigger drug cravings and lead to relapse. As a result, Chen said his lab treats drug addiction as a memory problem…The scientists call this silencing of the PVT pathway “erasure” because the drug-associated memory is effectively erased from the brain.

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