Research Highlights

NIDA Announces New NIH HEAL Initiative Awards to Address the Opioid Crisis

September 26, 2019 | In Fiscal Year 2019, approximately 375 NIH HEAL Initiative grants, contracts, supplements, and cooperative agreements in 41 states, totaling $945 million, have been awarded to researchers and research teams across...

Science Highlight

Measuring sleep challenges in opioid use disorder patients

September 25, 2019 | A new study at NIDA’s Intramural Research Center measured sleep patterns in opioid use disorder patients and found that clinic appointment hours make a difference in sleep quality. They also...

Nora's Blog

Suicide Deaths Are a Major Component of the Opioid Crisis that Must Be Addressed

| En español

September 19, 2019 | September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In observance, our two institutes, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), are taking this opportunity...

Science Highlight

NASEM releases National Agenda on Children’s Behavioral Health

September 11, 2019 | The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has released a national scientific agenda on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth, recommending a comprehensive approach...

Science Highlight

Unraveling the mystery of the glutamate-dopamine connection

September 3, 2019 | Investigators identify a subpopulation of calbindin neurons with the capability to co-release glutamate and dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell.

Science Highlight

Worms lead scientists to a new anti-opioid system

August 29, 2019 | A team of NIH-funded scientists used worms to discover a surprising biological system that counteracts the effects of opioids, offering a potential new target for improving the safety of opioid...

Nora's Blog

Emergency Departments Can Help Prevent Opioid Overdoses

| En español

August 27, 2019 | Common sense and a growing body of research suggest that patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who receive acute care in an emergency department will be at reduced risk for...

NIDA Notes

Rats Prefer Social Interaction to Heroin or Methamphetamine

| En español

August 23, 2019 | This study showed that rats will forgo heroin and methamphetamine in favor of spending time with another rat. It also highlights the importance of incorporating voluntary choice between drugs and...

Science Highlight

New findings could lead to reduced replication of the HIV virus

August 14, 2019 | In this study, NIDA-funded scientists found that the HIV RNA genome has two previously unknown types of RNA marks.

Science Highlight

Teens who misuse medicines get them from multiple sources

August 8, 2019 | Two NIDA-funded studies have found that adolescents using multiple sources for prescription medications are at high risk for other substance use.

NIDA Notes

THC Exposure in Adolescence Disrupts Brain Maturation in Animals

August 5, 2019 | A NIDA-supported study may help explain observed links between adolescent marijuana use and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.

Science Highlight

First time drug use more common in summertime

August 1, 2019 | Government surveys showed that in 2017, an estimated three million people tried marijuana for the first time, just over a million tried cocaine, close to 800,000 tried LSD, and close...

Science Highlight

Parenting programs lead to healthier behaviors

July 25, 2019 | A study conducted among 517 youth in the rural areas of the southeastern United States demonstrates the effectiveness of a parenting enhancement program in both preventing drug use and obesity...

Nora's Blog

The Importance of Treating Opioid Use Disorder in the Justice System

| En español

July 24, 2019 | Effectively delivering OUD treatment in the justice system will give individuals with OUD a chance of recovery, and will make a huge difference in reducing the toll of the opioid...

Science Highlight

Similarities between aggressive and addictive behaviors

July 23, 2019 | Scientists from NIDA’s Intramural Research Program show that neural mechanisms that control appetitive aggressive behavior are similar to those that control drug-taking and seeking (relapse), suggesting common neurobiological mechanisms of...

Nora's Blog

The Need for Diversity and Inclusivity in Presenting Scientific Research

| En español

July 19, 2019 | Diversity and inclusion are paramount in all sectors of society, especially in the sciences. Yet it is a well-known (and frequently lamented) fact that males continue to dominate the speaker...

Nora's Blog

Access to Addiction Services Differs by Race and Gender

| En español

July 16, 2019 | Disparities in access to quality treatment play a role in every aspect of health care and health outcomes, and the opioid crisis is no different.

NIDA Notes

Drug Use and Its Consequences Increase Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

July 10, 2019 | Studies found: The spread of marijuana use and the opioid epidemic over the past 10 years have affected middle-aged and older Americans. Prescription opioid and benzodiazepine misuse increased older adults’...

Science Highlight

Prescription opioid misuse in high school linked to later heroin use

July 9, 2019 | A NIDA-funded study suggests that misuse of prescription opioid pain relievers in high school could be linked to heroin use later in life.

Science Highlight

Medical Marijuana Laws and Opioid Overdose Rates

July 5, 2019 | A new study underscores the need for additional research on the effect of medical marijuana laws on opioid overdose deaths and cautions against drawing a causal connection between the two.

Science Highlight

Female reproductive cycle affects cocaine craving in animal study

July 2, 2019 | Researchers at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program (IRP) wanted to determine if the incubation of craving would be different in male and female rats and if the effect is stronger after...

Nora's Blog

The Importance of Prevention in Addressing the Opioid Crisis

| En español

June 27, 2019 | As our communities, healthcare systems, and government agencies join in the effort to reverse the epidemic of opioid overdoses and solve the opioid crisis, it is not enough to focus...

NIDA Notes

NIDA Announces New NIH HEAL Initiative Awards to Address the Opioid Crisis

Measuring sleep challenges in opioid use disorder patients

Suicide Deaths Are a Major Component of the Opioid Crisis that Must Be Addressed

NASEM releases National Agenda on Children’s Behavioral Health

Unraveling the mystery of the glutamate-dopamine connection

Worms lead scientists to a new anti-opioid system

Emergency Departments Can Help Prevent Opioid Overdoses

Rats Prefer Social Interaction to Heroin or Methamphetamine

New findings could lead to reduced replication of the HIV virus

Teens who misuse medicines get them from multiple sources

THC Exposure in Adolescence Disrupts Brain Maturation in Animals

First time drug use more common in summertime

Parenting programs lead to healthier behaviors

The Importance of Treating Opioid Use Disorder in the Justice System

Similarities between aggressive and addictive behaviors

The Need for Diversity and Inclusivity in Presenting Scientific Research

Access to Addiction Services Differs by Race and Gender

Drug Use and Its Consequences Increase Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Prescription opioid misuse in high school linked to later heroin use

Medical Marijuana Laws and Opioid Overdose Rates

Female reproductive cycle affects cocaine craving in animal study

The Importance of Prevention in Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Nicotine and Cannabis Have Offsetting Effects on Resting Brain Connectivity

Remembering Two Neurophysiology Pioneers

Cannabis Dependence Is Associated With Changes in Neural Circuitry That May Contribute to Psychopathology

Brief drug use disrupts learning mechanisms in the brain

Narrative of Discovery: The Quest for a Medication To Treat Methamphetamine Addiction, Part 4

The Brain and our Immune System: Working Together

Scientists identify brain circuits engaged in compulsive heroin use

How People with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) Can Lend a Needed Hand in Addiction Research