FENS 2020: can beta blockers help treat drug addiction?

Research from the University of Cambridge (UK), which has been presented at the FENS Virtual Forum of Neuroscience (11–15 July), shows how a medicinal drug can be used to disrupt memories that trigger drug cravings and drug addiction in rats. Drug addiction and drug use disorders affect over 30 million people around the world, however, the biological mechanisms underlying these conditions are not yet fully understood due to the many other genetic and environmental factors that are involved. This lack of understanding means that preventing relapse in patients is a major challenge. “We think that destroying memories that contribute to...