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Drug addiction: bad habits add up

We know how many drugs of abuse – cocaine, heroin and nicotine – work, but less about how they lead to addiction. Studies of the brain-learning systems concerned are addressing the causes of addiction, with the intent of developing better treatments.

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Figure 1: Some of the brain structures affected by drugs of abuse.
Figure 2: Neural systems of addiction.

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Robbins, T., Everitt, B. Drug addiction: bad habits add up. Nature 398, 567–570 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/19208

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