How Science Is Unlocking the Secrets of Addiction Blog
Scientists are working to find medications that can prevent the activation of the brain’s reward system due to drugs, in order to keep people from falling back into relapse. It has been proven that electromagnetic ways can treat drug addiction. There are medications that can help people quit their addictive habits, however, relapse is very common. Dr. Gallimberti decided to use a method, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), to help stop the addiction and prevent the relapse of stimulant drugs, such as cocaine.
After decades of testing animals and human volunteers, scientists have developed a picture of the way addiction can disrupt brain anatomy, chemistry, cell signaling, and more. Addiction changes the way the brain, prioritizing the drug over health, work, family, and life itself. By stimulating the region of the brain responsible for inhibiting behavior, an addict’s urge to get high may vanish. Dr. Gallimberti thought TMS might be a practical way to do that. For years, brain stimulation has treated depression and migraines by tapping the necessary circuit, Dr. Gallimberti believed brain stimulation could also activate drug-damaged neural pathways. Placebo-controlled trials proved TMS to be more effective than traditional therapy and medications.
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