Stress increases drug craving and relapse risk.

Incubation of drug craving is a phenomenon that consists of time-dependent increases in cue-induced drug craving during withdrawal.

High rates of relapse after prolonged abstinence are often triggered by exposure to drug -associated cues that induce drug craving.

Previous studies have demonstrated that drug -seeking in rats progressively increases over time during withdrawal (incubation of drug craving).

Data suggest further exploration of guanfacine is warranted in terms of its potential for reducing stress-induced and cue-induced drug craving and arousal.

Findings suggest that progesterone's effects on drug craving and arousal are moderated by both the type of environmental cue exposure and gender.

These findings highlight sex-specific effects of guanfacine on drug craving, anxiety, and negative mood with significant effects in women and not men.

However, its effects on provoked drug craving, stress arousal and cognitive performance has not been systematically investigated in cocaine dependent men and women.

Relapse is often associated with stress exposure, which can provoke a subjective state of drug craving that can also be demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions.

This review covers the neurobiology of drug craving and relapse risk with a primary focus on cocaine addiction and a secondary emphasis on alcohol addiction.

We identified 19 human studies using repetitive TMS (rTMS) to manipulate drug craving or use, which exposed a total of 316 adults to active rTMS.

The VTA is swarming with dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure as well as drug cravings.

In the study, the Beijing scientists tested a technique called "memory retrieval-extinction" to prevent drug cravings in heroin users.