Researchers and addiction specialists know that drug and alcohol addiction have a biological basis in lasting changes that occur in the brains of people who repeatedly use specific substances over time. However, they don’t know all of the details about how these changes manifest inside the brain. In a study published in May 2014 in the journal Neuron, researchers from three U.S. universities explored the role that a specific brain protein, called FMRP, plays in setting the stage for the development of cocaine addiction. This same protein has a known role in the development of the childhood developmental disorder called autism spectrum disorder.
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