A comprehensive multidisciplinary review of the most relevant molecular, genetic, and behavioral approaches used to investigate the neurobiological basis of drug addiction. The authors explore the latest findings on opioid, psychostimulant, cannabinoid, alcohol, and nicotine addiction, provide fresh insights into the genetic basis of drug addiction and the new therapeutic perspectives these have opened. They describe the technology available to generate conditional knockout mice and show how these mice can reveal the molecular basis of opioid, psychostimulant, and cannabinoid addiction. They also review the different behavioral models available to evaluate the rewarding effects of drugs and analyze the genes involved in alcohol dependence.

Some general aspects of opiate dependence are described in a first section including a brief historical description and an explanation of the different models currently used to investigate opiate dependence. The neurobiological bases of opiate withdrawal are detailed in a second section, which particularly emphasizes the neurophysiological adaptative changes, the processes of homologous and heterologous regulation, and the role played by different brain structures and several endogenous peptides acting as antiopiates. The last part reports several basic aspects more directly related to the clinical perspectives of opiate dependence, such as the new expectations in the treatment of opiate withdrawal or the relationships between sensitization, tolerance and withdrawal.

A comprehensive multidisciplinary review of the most relevant molecular, genetic, and behavioral approaches used to investigate the neurobiological basis of drug addiction. The authors explore the latest findings on opioid, psychostimulant, cannabinoid, alcohol, and nicotine addiction, provide fresh insights into the genetic basis of drug addiction and the new therapeutic perspectives these have opened. They describe the technology available to generate conditional knockout mice and show how these mice can reveal the molecular basis of opioid, psychostimulant, and cannabinoid addiction. They also review the different behavioral models available to evaluate the rewarding effects of drugs and analyze the genes involved in alcohol dependence.