Changes in neural connections due to substance use and withdrawal are long-lasting, and craving can peak well into abstinence.
Incubation of craving in rats — in other words, an inverted U-shaped curve where craving rises, plateaus and then declines — holds across drug classes. So although it was initially demonstrated for cocaine, incubation of craving occurs in rats after self-administration of methamphetamine, opioids, nicotine and ethanol. Incubation of cue-induced craving has also been demonstrated in humans — so far, this has been shown during abstinence from cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine and alcohol. So that long plateau phase that we see in the animals is a relevant model for the persistent vulnerability to craving and relapse in humans who are trying to recover from substance use disorder. What addiction does to the brain – https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2026/what-addiction-does-to-synapses-in-brain
The article is an interview with Marina Wolf, a behavioral neuroscientist at the Oregon Health & Science University. Good stuff if your brain is into brain stuff.





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