This monograph, written by experts in the field, is devoted to the molecular analysis of addiction pathways in the brain. It provides an intensive overview of the fundamentals, state?of?the?art advances, and major gaps in the cell and molecular biology of drug addiction within the broader context of neuroscience. Addiction research is a branch of neuroscience and psychology. The emphasis in this book is on hard science and the market for it will be found among research investigators and grad students within the field of neuroscience. The research presented is not only applicable to the study of drug abuse and addiction, but has clear implications for clarifying mechanisms of learning and memory, neuroadaptation, perception, volitional behavior, motivation, reward, and other disciplines of neuroscience.

1. Introduction, B.K. Madras PART 1: GENETICS 2. Addiction Genetics and Genomics, G.R.Uhl 3. Catechol?O?methyltransferase Genotype, Intermediate Phenotype, and Psychiatric Disorders, K. Xu and D. Goldman 4. Identifying Genes Affecting Addiction Risk in Animal Models, J.C. Crabbe 5. Endorphins, Gene Polymorphisms, Stress Responsivity, and Special Addictions: Selected Topics, M.J. Kreek 6. Imaging the Addicted Brain, N.D. Volkow, G.?J. Wang, J.S. Fowler, and R.Z. Goldstein 7. Neurotoxin Effects of Drug of Abuse: Imaging and Mechanisms, D.F. Wong PART 2: DEVELOPMENT AND DRUG ABUSE 8. Development of Midbrain Dopaminergic Pathways, M. Cooper and R. Zhou PART 3: CELL BIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 9. Transporter Structure and Function, G. Rudnick 10. Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors and Nicotine Dependence, A.R. Tapper, R. Nashmi, and H.A. Lester 11. Opioids as a Model for Cell Biological Studies of Addictive Drug Action, M. von Zastrow and C.J. Evans 12. Receptor?receptor Interactions Modulate Opioid Receptor Function, I. Gomes and L.A. Devi 13. The Endocannabinoid System: From Cell Biology to Therapy, D. Piomelli 14. Cocaine Neurobiology: From Targets to Treatment, B.K. Madras and Z. Lin 15. The Oligomerization of G?protein?coupled Receptors, M.M.C. Kong, B.F. O?Dowd, and S.R. George 16. The Critical Role of Adenosine A2a Receptors and Gi ?? Subunits in Alcoholism and Addiction: From Cell Biology to Behavior, I. Diamond and L. Yao 17. Neurotransmitter Transporters: Mechanisms and Function, R. Edwards PART 4: SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY AND ADDICTION 18. Synaptic Vesicle Trafficking and Drug Addiction in Synapsin Triple Knockout Mice, D. Gitler, J. Feng, Y. Takagishi, V.M. Pogorelov, R.M. Rodriguiz, B.J. Venton, P.E.M. Phillips, Y. Ren, H.?T. Kao, M. Wightman, P. Greengard, W.C. Wetsel, and G.J. Augustine 19. Synaptic Plasticity in the Mesolimbic Dopamine System and Addiction, D. Saal and R.C. Malenka 20. Long?term Memory Storage in Aplysia, J.H. Schwartz 21. Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction, E.J. Nestler PART 5: SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF DRUG ABUSE 22. Dynamic Analyses of Neural Representations Using the State?space Modeling Paradigm, E.N. Brown and R. Barbieri 23. Quantitative Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Drug Abuse, W.M. Freeman and K.E. Vrana Index