FLICKR, IDENTITY PHOTOGR@PHY
Despite a wide range of clinical treatments for drug addiction, recovering addicts are still expected to relapse more than 50 percent of the time. In a study published in Science last week, researchers led by Lin Lu of the National Institute of Drug Dependence at Peking University in Beijing tested a novel method for altering memories of drug use in addicts that didn’t require the use of pharmaceuticals and which reduced drug cravings up to 6 months later.
The method, which was also tested in rats, involved first showing heroin addicts a 5-minute video of drug paraphernalia and people doing heroin—during which time memories of drug use are retrieved from long-term storage, making them more prone to alteration. After a 10-minute break, the group was ...
