Resetting addicted brain: Laser light zaps away cocaine addiction

[Jim__]

From Medical Xpress:

By stimulating one part of the brain with laser light, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have shown that they can wipe away addictive behavior in rats – or conversely turn non-addicted rats into compulsive cocaine seekers.

"When we turn on a laser light in the prelimbic region of the prefrontal cortex, the compulsive cocaine seeking is gone," said Antonello Bonci, MD, scientific director of the intramural research program at the NIH's National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), where the work was done. Bonci is also an adjunct professor of neurology at UCSF and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Described this week in the journal Nature, the new study demonstrates the central role the prefrontal cortex plays in compulsive cocaine addiction. It also suggests a new therapy that could be tested immediately in humans, Bonci said.

...

Bonci and his colleagues plan to begin clinical trials at NIH in which they will use this technique a few sessions a week to stimulate the prefrontal cortex in people who are addicted to cocaine and see if they can restore activity to that part of the brain and help them avoid taking the drug.

more ...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. wow. like the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

kinda sorta.

cool.

[Isoldeblue]

2. Almost like a non-invasive lobotomy...

This a wondrous thing! Thinking of the ramifications of this is mind-boggling!
It could be used for over-eating, anger management, DU addiction (joke), co-dependency..... The list is endless!

[DollarBillHines]

3. Dang, that could have saved me a fortune

Seriously.

But I had so much fun...

Got me thru the RayGun years, too.

[Warpy]

5. I think a lot of us were coked up during the 80s, it was the only way to stand them

It was not my favorite drug and certainly not my drug of choice (never found one), but it did help out the occasional dull party when somebody'd give a nudge and say "check out the toilet tank." Yes, my friends were classy that way.

Then I'd spend the next 2 days feeling like my sinuses were overstuffed with dirty mohair socks, the best deterrent for that drug that I know.

Ah, the 80s. Thank goodness they're over. There's no way I could cope with them now.

[DollarBillHines]

6. "toilet tank"

Oh, Warpy, things like that are what separates the real deal from the poseurs.

Damn, that takes me back...

I could go on and on...

But you know.
DBH

[lastlib]

4. just wondering.....

How the He** do they get the laser into someone's head???

I flunked medical school.........

[Warpy]

7. The usual way

Give the poor slob the worst haircut of his life, slice the skin and pull it back and saw a hole in the skull. Then carefully insert the laser and fire it off.

If they gave people full head shaves, it wouldn't be so bad. They just shave a huge patch around where the incision will be, leaving the poor slob in the bed at least a couple of months of really, really bad hair days.

[Chemisse]

8. I wonder if this can be expanded for other addictions

The addiction to painkillers in this country is horrifically pervasive. So many lives have been destroyed. It would be amazing if this kind of procedure could actually cure the addiction.

[RainDog]

9. The actual application is transcranial magnetic stimulation

not a laser.

This is an external application of electric stimulation to parts of the brain - it's been studied for various things - such as severe and unremitting depression.