Topic description and stories

Young people smoking

Reduced grey matter in frontal lobes linked to teenage smoking and nicotine addiction

15 Aug 2023

Findings may demonstrate a brain and behavioural basis for how nicotine addiction is initiated and then takes hold in early life, say scientists.

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Computer poker graphics

Industry funding potentially compromising gambling addiction research, say experts

15 Feb 2022

Too little research is being conducted into problem gambling – and what research there is, is often funded by the gambling industry rather than by...

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Man using internet

Researchers to track impact of lockdown on alcohol, gambling and pornography use

12 May 2020

Is the lockdown leading us to drink more alcohol or spend more time gambling online or watching pornography? Researchers today launch a survey aimed...

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Problematic smartphone use linked to poorer grades, alcohol misuse and more sexual partners

04 Jul 2019

A survey of more than 3,400 university students in the USA has found that one in five respondents reported problematic smartphone use. Female...

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Young people at risk of addiction show differences in key brain region

04 Mar 2019

Young adults at risk of developing problems with addiction show key differences in an important region of the brain, according to an international...

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Keyboard Warrier

European research network aims to tackle problematic internet use

09 Oct 2018

A pan-European network to tackle problematic internet usage officially launches today with the publication of its manifesto, setting out the...

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relaxing after work_MMVI

Cocaine addiction leads to build-up of iron in brain

21 Feb 2017

Cocaine addiction may affect how the body processes iron, leading to a build-up of the mineral in the brain, according to new research from the...

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BASE Jumping from Sapphire Tower, Istanbul

Opinion: Why danger is exciting – but only to some people

06 Sep 2016

Valerie Voon (Department of Psychiatry) discusses what makes some people want to base jump off a cliff, while others don’t even enjoy a rollercoaster...

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Sträng

Carrots and sticks fail to change behaviour in cocaine addiction

16 Jun 2016

People who are addicted to cocaine are particularly prone to developing habits that render their behaviour resistant to change, regardless of the...

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Living with adversity: What Tupac and Eminem can tell us about risk factors for mental health

12 Apr 2016

Hip-hop artists Tupac and Eminem are among the most iconic music artists of the past two decades, and as Dr Akeem Sule and Dr Becky Inkster, co-...

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Highway to addiction: how drugs and alcohol can hijack your brain

25 Feb 2016

The discovery of a brain circuit ‘shortcut’ could explain why some addicts unintentionally relapse, and suggests that a shift in focus for therapies...

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relaxing after work_MMVI (cropped)

Cocaine addiction: Scientists discover ‘back door’ into the brain

12 Jan 2016

Individuals addicted to cocaine may have difficulty in controlling their addiction because of a previously-unknown ‘back door’ into the brain...

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