Latest research.

• Position: The National Institute on Drug Abuse - Brief article

NIDA researchers have found the following connections between stress and drug abuse:

* Stress can cause changes in the brain like those caused by addictive drugs. This suggests that some people who experience stress may be more vulnerable to drug addiction or drug relapse.

* Those who become addicted to drugs may already be hypersensitive to stress.

* Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a key brain mechanism involved in memory and learning. Researchers have shown that LTP is involved in how both drug exposure and stress affect the brain.

* Stress can put people at risk for substance...