Neurobiology of the Opioid Epidemic: Basic and Translational Perspectives

Opioid misuse and addiction have taken a massive toll on society, including lives lost, socioeconomic disruption, financial costs, and a burden on the health care system. This has accelerated exponentially in the last few years with the introduction of highly potent opioids. Intertwined with the opioid crisis is another crisis that is centered on pain, which affects a significant proportion of the population, and strategies for pain treatment. Together, these public health crises have sparked much basic and translational research in the areas of opioid pharmacology, the neuroscience of reward, affect, decision-making and self-regulation, the genetics of vulnerability, and the neurobiology of pain.
Source: Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: research