Science News, September 10th, 1994
It's a cruel punishment for drug dependency. Those who finally decide to kick the habit or who simply can't get hold of any drugs may experience withdrawal, complete with shaking and sweating. Many addicts have no doubt wondered what could be making them feel so bad.
According to Glenda C. Harris and Gary Aston-Jones of Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, it's dopamine, a chemical messenger, in the brain's nucleus accumbens that helps impose this harsh sentence. Researchers disagree, however, on the finding's clinical implications.
Their new results, reported in the Sept. 8 LANCET, furth...
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