Chapter 7 - Neurobiology of Stress and Risk for Relapse

Abstract

Relapse to drug use is one of the most debilitating long-term effects of addiction and one of the greatest challenges for treatment. There are many correlational studies implicating life stress as an important factor contributing to increased rates of drug and alcohol use, and as a trigger for relapse in individuals with substance abuse disorders. This chapter focuses on experiments conducted in laboratory animals to study the effects of exposure to environmental stressors on relapse to psychostimulant, opiate, and alcohol seeking, and on the neurobiological mechanisms mediating those effects. Two commonly used animal models of relapse, so-called reinstatement procedures, are described, and a summary of the types of stressors that have been found to effectively induce relapse to drug seeking using procedures based on these models is provided. In addition, studies aimed at uncovering the neurobiological underpinnings of stress-induced relapse are reviewed. Furthermore, recent work demonstrating that a history of drug exposure can produce long-lasting changes in the responsivity of the central nervous system to stressors is discussed with respect to its potential implications for understanding the relationship between stress and relapse to drug seeking.