Simulated sea slug gets addicted to drug

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau) Scientists built a computer model of a simple brain network based on that of a sea slug, taught it how to get food, gave it an appetite and the ability to experience reward, added a dash of something called homeostatic plasticity and then exposed it to a very intoxicating drug. To no one's surprise, the creature became addicted.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news