{"id":218609,"date":"2025-07-24T04:20:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/tiny-brain-circuit-linked-to-cocaine-withdrawal-discomfort-and-relapse-risk"},"modified":"2025-07-24T04:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:20:57","slug":"tiny-brain-circuit-linked-to-cocaine-withdrawal-discomfort-and-relapse-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/tiny-brain-circuit-linked-to-cocaine-withdrawal-discomfort-and-relapse-risk","title":{"rendered":"Tiny brain circuit linked to cocaine withdrawal discomfort and relapse risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/tiny-brain-circuit-linked-to-cocaine-withdrawal-discomfort-and-relapse-risk2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why do so many people relapse after quitting cocaine? A new study from The Hebrew University reveals that a specific \u201canti-reward\u201d brain circuit becomes hyperactive during withdrawal\u2014driving discomfort and pushing users back toward the drug. Surprisingly, this circuit may also serve as a built-in protective mechanism, offering new hope for addiction treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Cocaine addiction has long been understood as a tug-of-war between reward and restraint. The rush of dopamine keeps users hooked, while withdrawal triggers anxiety, depression, and despair. But a new study by researchers at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that it\u2019s not just the craving for pleasure\u2014but the brain\u2019s aversion to pain\u2014that plays a powerful role in relapse.<\/p>\n<p>Led by Prof. Yonatan M. Kupchik and Ph.D. student Liran Levi from the Faculty of Medicine, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.adu6074\" target=\"_blank\">study<\/a>, appearing in <i>Science Advances<\/i>, identifies a specific \u201canti-reward\u201d network deep in the brain that undergoes lasting changes during cocaine use, withdrawal, and re-exposure. This glutamatergic network, located in the ventral pallidum, is emerging as a key player in addiction\u2014and a promising target for future therapies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do so many people relapse after quitting cocaine? A new study from The Hebrew University reveals that a specific \u201canti-reward\u201d brain circuit becomes hyperactive during withdrawal\u2014driving discomfort and pushing users back toward the drug. Surprisingly, this circuit may also serve as a built-in protective mechanism, offering new hope for addiction treatment. Cocaine addiction has [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}