All posts tagged: rewires

Combining alcohol with cocaine rewires the brain’s relapse pathways differently than cocaine alone

Combining alcohol with cocaine rewires the brain’s relapse pathways differently than cocaine alone

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology provides evidence that using cocaine and alcohol together alters the brain pathways responsible for drug relapse. The research suggests that the specific brain circuits driving a return to cocaine use in single-drug scenarios are no longer the primary drivers when alcohol is involved. These findings indicate that treating polysubstance use might require completely different medical approaches than treating isolated cocaine use. Scientists conducted this research to better understand how the brain changes when multiple addictive substances are consumed. Most laboratory models of addiction focus entirely on a single substance, such as cocaine. However, the vast majority of people who struggle with cocaine addiction also consume alcohol, often drinking sequentially after a period of using cocaine. To explain the motivation behind the study, researcher Lori Knackstedt provided some background. Knackstedt is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida, a researcher at the Center for Addiction Research and Education, and holds titles as a UF Term Professor (2017-2020) and a UF Research Foundation Professor (2023-2026). “Despite years …

How music rewires the human body, in 59 minutes

How music rewires the human body, in 59 minutes

Published by Jenni Sidey

MICHAEL SPITZER: I’m Michael Spitzer. I’m professor of music at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. I’ve written a book called The Musical Human, A History of Life on Earth. The past, present and future of music with Michael Spitzer. Part 1. The History of Music. How did you approach the history of music? People often write books in response to reading other books. When I read Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, which blew my mind, I thought, well, hold on. Music is at least a million years older than the Sapiens. Most books about music do the usual thing of which composer wrote what piece at what time. I wanted to get away from that and see the bigger picture. We’re in that kind of moment of thinking of the global of the universal. And music is absolutely universal. It also transcends sapiens because animals have music, birds, whales and other creatures. And ultimately, the musical human is a musical animal. It’s almost inconceivable to write a prehistory of music because Edison invents a …