Putting the brakes on heroin relapse

Neuroscientists from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) report in Science Advances that star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes can "turn off" neurons involved in relapse to heroin. Drug-related cues in the environment can intensify the drive to seek drugs, leading to relapse. In this article, a team led by Peter Kalivas, Ph.D., and Anna Kruyer, Ph.D., both of the Department of Neuroscience, examined how astrocytes interact with neurons and whether astrocytes play an important role in regulating the response to drug cues.