Dietz Research Identifies Protein that Regulates Cocaine Cravings After Withdrawal

Articles reporting on UB research that found that a protein in the brain’s reward center, the nucleus accumbens, regulates the genes that help drive the craving for cocaine after a period of withdrawal, quotes David Dietz, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

“The finding highlights how highly addictive drugs, such as cocaine, alter the brain and why relapse after abstinence is so common and so difficult to reverse,” he said.