From neurobiology to treatment: progress against addiction

Most advances in addiction treatment to date have addressed the physical dependence and withdrawal that accompany addiction to some drugs of abuse. In contrast, it has proven more difficult to develop medications that effectively treat drug craving and relapse, the core features of addictive disorders. Current efforts focus on developing medications that prevent a drug from getting to its protein target, that mimic drug action and thereby partially alleviate drug craving, or that affect the addiction process per se. The latter approach is the most speculative, but also the most promising in terms of translating basic knowledge of addiction into clinical progress.