Specific contributions about this interaction include the study of CRF receptors in the lateral septum, investigations on the neural mechanisms of cross-sensitization for psychostimulants and ethanol, the identification of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway as a critical neural substrate for stress and addiction, and the emergence of the cannabinoid system as a promising therapeutic target. In this review, we compile for the first time a series of studies conducted by Latin American-based neuroscientists, who have devoted their careers to studying the interaction between stress and addiction, from a neurobiological and clinical perspective. Nonetheless, these contributions may not be as strongly acknowledged by the broad scientific audience as studies coming from developed countries. There has been a growing interest in studying the molecular, cellular, and behavioral mechanisms of stress and addiction in Latin-America over the last decade. Indeed, the HPA axis, the autonomic nervous system, and the extended amygdala, among other brain stress systems, interact with the brain’s reward circuit involved in addictive behaviors.

Notably, environmental factors such as acute or chronic stress affect this system, and increase the risk for drug consumption and relapse. It is well-known that chronic changes in the brain’s reward system play an important role in the neurobiology of addiction. 3Neuroscience Research Group, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombiaĭrug addiction is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder that escalates from an initial exposure to drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, cannabis, or heroin, to compulsive drug-seeking and intake, reduced ability to inhibit craving-induced behaviors, and repeated cycles of abstinence and relapse.2Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.1Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.Angélica Torres-Berrio 1 Santiago Cuesta 2 Silvia Lopez-Guzman 3 Mauricio O.

Stress induced hedonic dysfunction