The reversal appears to lessen the cravings associated with cocaine, thus providing protection against relapse. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

"Our finding suggests a promising therapeutic strategy for cocaine addiction, for which there is no approved treatment," said lead author Khaled Moussawi of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug characterized by frequent relapses. Recent advances in brain imaging are helping scientists uncover what happens in the brain when an addicted person is exposed to the drug-associated "cues" that trigger craving -- and lead to relapse. They've found that repeated exposure to psychoactive drugs such as cocaine causes an imbalance in the brain circuits regulating reward and cognitive control.

Research was supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023102504.htm