nbcnews.com: A peek into opioid users' brains as they try to quit
7/29/2019
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, works in an MRI lab at the institute's research hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 16, 2019.Carolyn Kaster / AP file
Lying inside a scanner, the patient watched as pictures appeared one by one: A bicycle. A cupcake. Heroin. Outside, researchers tracked her brain's reactions to the surprise sight of the drug she'd fought to kick.
Government scientists are starting to peek into the brains of people caught in the nation's opioid epidemic, to see if medicines proven to treat addiction, like methadone, do more than ease the cravings and withdrawal. Do they also heal a brain damaged by addiction? And which one works best for which patient?
They're fundamental questions considering that far too few of the 2 million opioid users who need anti-addiction medicine actually receive it.