ReviewMolecular psychiatry2011
New medications for drug addiction hiding in glutamatergic neuroplasticity.
Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 207 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
207 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 349 citations in OpenAlex.
- Project harmony: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of psychotherapy and pharmacologic trials for comorbid posttraumatic stress, alcohol, and other drug use disorders.Psychological bulletin · 2024Pooled it
- Negative Allosteric Modulators of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Subtype 5 in Addiction: a Therapeutic Window.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2016Pooled it
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of N-acetylcysteine for Adolescent and Young Adult Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Trial
- The Effect of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) on Neurometabolites and Cognitive Function in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2025Trial
- The neural and psychophysiological effects of cannabidiol in youth with alcohol use disorder: A randomized controlled clinical trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- N-acetylcysteine does not alter neurometabolite levels in non-treatment seeking adolescents who use alcohol heavily: A preliminary randomized clinical trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Trial
- Evaluating N-acetylcysteine for early and end-of-treatment abstinence in adult cigarette smokers.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- A Randomized Trial of Combined tDCS Over Right Inferior Frontal Cortex and Cognitive Bias Modification: Null Effects on Drinking and Alcohol Approach Bias.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Trial
- The effect of N-acetylcysteine on alcohol use during a cannabis cessation trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Trial
- N-Acetylcysteine for Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents: An Open-Label Pilot Study.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Alcohol use during a trial of N-acetylcysteine for adolescent marijuana cessation.Addictive behaviors · 2016Trial
- A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Pilot Trial of N-Acetylcysteine in Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use Disorders.The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2016Trial
- An open-label pilot trial of N-acetylcysteine and varenicline in adult cigarette smokers.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2015Trial
- Achieving cannabis cessation -- evaluating N-acetylcysteine treatment (ACCENT): design and implementation of a multi-site, randomized controlled study in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.Contemporary clinical trials · 2014Trial
- Methylphenidate reduces functional connectivity of nucleus accumbens in brain reward circuit.Psychopharmacology · 2013Trial
- A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, trial of lamotrigine therapy in bipolar disorder, depressed or mixed phase and cocaine dependence.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2012Trial
- A double-blind randomized controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine in cannabis-dependent adolescents.The American journal of psychiatry · 2012Trial
- Neuroimaging as the 'missing link' for preclinical to clinical translation: an example using N-acetylcysteine among individuals with cocaine- and opioid-use disorders receiving methadone treatment.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- From Neuroadaptation to Neuroprogression: Rethinking Chronic Cocaine Exposure Through a Model of Cocaine-Related Cerebropathy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Sex and dose-dependent effects of cannabidiol on cocaine consumption in mice.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
147 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The repeated use of drugs that directly or indirectly stimulate dopamine transmission carry addiction liability and produce enduring pathological changes in the brain circuitry that normally regulates adaptive behavioral responding to a changing environment. This circuitry is rich in glutamatergic projections, and addiction-related behaviors in animal models have been linked to impairments in excitatory synaptic plasticity. Among the best-characterized glutamatergic projection in this circuit is the prefrontal efferent to the nucleus accumbens. A variety of molecular adaptations have been identified in the prefrontal glutamate synapses in the accumbens, many of which are induced by different classes of addictive drugs. Based largely on work with cocaine, we hypothesize that the drug-induced adaptations impair synaptic plasticity in the cortico-accumbens projection, and thereby dysregulate the ability of addicts to control their drug-taking habits. Accordingly, we go on to describe the literature implicating the drug-induced changes in protein content or function that impinge upon synaptic plasticity and have been targeted in preclinical models of relapse and, in some cases, in pilot clinical trials. Based upon modeling drug-induced impairments in neuroplasticity in the cortico-accumbens pathway, we argue for a concerted effort to clinically evaluate the hypothesis that targeting glial and neuronal proteins regulating excitatory synaptic plasticity may prove beneficial in treating addiction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.