β-Endorphins are peptides that exert a wide variety of effects throughout the body. Produced
through the cleavage pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), β-endorphins are the primarily agonist …

Drugs of abuse are ve y powerful reinforcers, and even in conditions of limited access
(where the organism is nof dependent) these drugs will motivate high rates of operant …

This review gives an overview of recent findings and developments in research on brain
mechanisms of reward and reinforcement from studies using the place preference …

Alcohol exerts numerous pharmacological effects through its interaction with various
neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Among the latter, the endogenous opioids play a …

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that activation of the dynorphin/kappa
(κ)-opioid system has a role in the increased consumption of ethanol in dependent animals …

A meta-analysis was conducted on the data obtained from published articles that have used
the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to assess the rewarding effects of …

Drug withdrawal is an integral part of most types of dependence and, to a large extent,
opiate withdrawal has been considered the prototypic, classic measure of opiate …

Numerous studies have demonstrated that drugs of abuse activate the mesolimbic
dopamine reward pathway, and it is widely held that this activation contributes to the …

The dynorphin-like peptides have profound effects on the state of the brain reward system
and human and animal behavior. The dynorphin-like peptides affect locomotor activity, food …

One hypothetical model for a mechanism of drug dependence involves the development of
an adaptive process that is initiated to counter the acute effects of the drug. This adaptive …