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High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine-taking

Cambridge Neuroscientists have found impulsivity, a trait often associated with addicts’ behaviour, predicts whether casual drug use will lead to compulsive drug use.

The Cambridge research team, which included Professor Barry Everitt, Drs David Belin, Adam Mar, Jeff Dalley and Professor Trevor Robbins working in the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry within the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, showed that a spontaneously occurring tendency, or ‘trait’, of impulsivity in rats predicts the transition from casual to compulsive drug use and drug addiction.

Their findings were reported in Science, 6th June 2008.

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Posted on 11/06/2008