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Updated: May 13, 2026

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence
Published on: March 23, 2022
The promises and pitfalls of retrieval-extinction procedures in preventing relapse to drug seeking
Kate Hutton-Bedbrook1, Gavan P McNally
1School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Abstract:
Relapse to drug seeking after treatment or a period of abstinence remains a fundamental challenge for drug users. The retrieval - extinction procedure offers promise in augmenting the efficacy of exposure based treatment for drug use and for protecting against relapse to drug seeking. Preceding extinction training with a brief retrieval or reminder trial, retrieval - extinction training, has been shown to reduce reinstatement of extinguished drug seeking in animal models and also to produce profound and long lasting decrements in cue-induced craving in human heroin users. However, the mechanisms that mediate these effects of retrieval - extinction training are unclear. Moreover, under some circumstances, the retrieval - extinction procedure can significantly increase vulnerability to reinstatement in animal models.
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