A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examines the brain mechanisms involved in cocaine use.  Specifically, the researchers show that the regulation of a certain compound dramatically alters behavioral responses to cocaine.  Additionally, the regulation of synaptic connections and development can also be affected.  These findings are critical for understanding long-term implications and ramifications of cocaine use.

According to Fox News, when administering chronic cocaine to lab mice, the research team from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai saw increased levels of an enzyme called PARP-1, which led to an increase in its marks at certain genes.  These epigenetic changes altered the activity of the nucleus accumbens, ultimately contributing to long-term addiction to cocaine.  Researchers argue that these findings are significant because the discovery could provide a potential drug target for anti-addiction medications.

A study in August 2013, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, examined how the administration of cocaine in mice affected the brain.  Using in vivo imaging, the researchers were able to examine the brain while the mice were alive.  Observing the formation and accumulation of a brain structure called dendritic spines, the researchers concluded that these changes may explain drug seeking behaviors in humans.  These behaviors create major obstacles to overcoming substance use.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is a brain disease, which may be explained in part by this study.

An article in the Annual Review of Physiology notes that dendritic spines are necessary for synaptic function and brain plasticity.  Abnormal dendritic spines are associated with brain disorders.  In the journal Brain Research, one study identifies changes in spine distribution linked to the neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  Genetic disorders that have mental or neural consequences, such as Fragile X syndrome and Down’s, also show variance in dendritic spine distributions.  Finally, behaviors that impact the brain, including exposure to toxins or alcohol and malnutrition, also alter spine density.

Another study, published in October 2013 in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, examined the relationship between cocaine use and HIV.  Building on existing literature that indicated stimulant use was correlated with higher levels of HIV infection, the researchers found that cocaine affects T cells in such a way that increased the number of T cells in the body that were susceptible to infection.  Specifically, cocaine affects a type of T cells that HIV is ineffective at infecting.