Methamphetamine use and overdose rates are currently at an all-time high in West Virginia. Methamphetamine is a stimulant of dopamine receptors in the brain in several regions of the reward system of the brain. This makes treatment difficult, as the brain requires time to recover from insult. This includes a loss of neurons over time. This makes treatment difficult due to the drug effects on the reward center of the brain. The psychostimulant causes changes to the brain's structure but is theorized to recover through plasticity and stem cell recovery. Drug abuse results in a loss of central nervous system (CNS) neurons that affects the function of regions of the limbic system including: the ventral trigeminal tract, nucleus accumbens, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. The degree to which damage occurs and how this alters the recovery of these areas is poorly understood. During this study, different dosages of methamphetamine were administered to mice and then allowed 2-4-6-month recovery periods. Following this abstinence was an analysis of the alterations in neuron activity within the brain focusing specifically on the limbic system. Early results show little recovery in these areas suggesting a prolonged period of time, possibly exceeding 6 months, for recovery in some regions.

Recovery of central nervous system regions after exposure to low and high dose methamphetamine treatments

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ACS Spring 2023

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