A new study from Yale University found that adding certain drugs to behavioral therapies may help recovery from drug addiction.

• Dr. Mary Torregrossa and her colleagues had 168 rats self-administer cocaine for weeks, and then used "extinction therapy" to weaken cues that induce their cravings and drug-seeking behaviors.
• If the memory-enhancing drug D-cycloserine was added to their therapy, the rats were more likely to reduce or avoid cocaine.

"Extinction therapy usually only works where the therapy takes place, like a treatment center", Dr. Torregrossa explained. "Using drugs like D-cycloserine to make extinction work more broadly is a big advancement in the treatment of addiction."

This study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Labels: cocaine, recovery, research

Posted By: Jane St. Clair