Opioid addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder associated with persistent changes in brain plasticity. Reconfiguration of neuronal connectivity may explain heightened abuse liability in individuals with a history of chronic drug exposure. To characterize network-level changes in neuronal activity induced by chronic opiate exposure, we compared FOS expression in mice that are morphine-naïve, morphine-dependent, or have undergone 4 wk of withdrawal from chronic morphine exposure, relative to saline-exposed controls. Pairwise interregional correlations in FOS expression data were used to construct network models that reveal a persistent reduction in connectivity strength following opiate dependence. Further, we demonstrate that basal gene expression patterns are predictive of changes in FOS correlation networks in the morphine-dependent state. Finally, we determine that regions of the hippocampus, striatum, and midbrain are most influential in driving transitions between opiate-naïve and opiate-dependent brain states using a control theoretic approach. This study provides a framework for predicting the influence of specific therapeutic interventions on the state of the opiate-dependent brain.
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Not You: Addiction, Relapse, and Release in Uganda
In recent years alcohol abuse and dependence have become topics of increasing concern in Uganda, but the chronic relapsing brain disease model of addiction remains only one of many ways of understanding and addressing alcohol related problems there. For many Ugandan Pentecostals and spirit mediums to be addicted is to be under the control of a being that comes from outside the self. Where these two groups differ, and here they differ strongly, is in regard to the moral valence of these external spirits and what ought to be done about them. This article draws on four years of collaborative ethnographic fieldwork to explore the affordances of these ways of viewing and experiencing addiction and recovery for Ugandans attempting to leave alcohol behind. While the idioms of bondage, dedication, and possession are at times severe, this article argues that they contain within them concepts and practices that point away from models of addiction as a chronic relapsing brain disease and towards the possibility of release.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1758472
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10229027
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry
- ISSN:
- 0165-005X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-021-09722-9
