The Cause Of Relapse

Researchers performed studies on rats with cocaine to study relapse and that “addiction is a maladaptive form of memory and learning” (Discover, 2015, para 42), which further explains drug relapse and possibly leads to being able to prevent relapse. Specifically, one finding in the animal studies was the cravings for the cocaine were stronger as time continues rather than lessening over time. The motivation to quit a drug substance is managed in the primitive areas of the brain, amygdala and hippocampus, associated with memory and learning. Notably our memories are efficient when our neurons fire together and link together and there is a maladaptation when our neurons fire out of sync and then they do not link together. These areas of the