A new study of laboratory animals found that exercise decreased cocaine-seeking behaviors among adolescents.
- Researchers at the Brookhaven Laboratory and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Laboratory of Neuroimaging exposed a group of "teenage" rats to cocaine that they could administer themselves.
- Then they allowed some control animals to be sedentary while others ran on treadmills.
- The adolescent rats who exercised also decreased the amounts of cocaine they used.
- Female rats tended to use more cocaine than males and preferred not to exercise more often than males.
"This is a first step in trying to understand the connection between exercise and substance abuse," said lead author Peter Thanos.
The study was published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research.
Labels: research, cocaine, treatment
Posted By: Jane St. Clair