methamphetamine / Generic mfg. - LARVOL DELTA

BDNF-Dependent Disruption of Methamphetamine-Seeking Behavior by Memantine Following Memory Reactivation (Neuroscience 2026) - "Our data suggest that memantine's ability to reduce methamphetamine-seeking behavior after memory reactivation is BDNF-dependent. Future studies will examine whether memantine facilitates the consolidation of extinction memories or blocks reconsolidation by testing for spontaneous recovery and the ability to form new memories immediately after memantine administration."

Alzheimer's Disease • CNS Disorders • BDNF

Hippocampal D2-like dopamine as a novel target for the effect of Cannabidiol on modulating extinction and reinstatement of methamphetamine-seeking behavior (Neuroscience 2026) - "Methamphetamine (METH) is a serious health concern with no reliable pharmaceutical treatment. Moreover, Sulpiride (1 and 4 μg) during the reinstatement phase notably reversed CBD's preventive effects on the reinstatement of reward-seeking behavior (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively).According to the current research, CBD dramatically reduced the extinction period and suppress METH reinstatement is partially mediated through interaction with D2- like dopamine receptors in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. These finding proposed that new insight into more precise and effective intervention for METH use disorder."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Changes in BOLD activity elicited by drug-paired cues in rodent addiction models (Neuroscience 2026) - "Our study aims to address this in rats by identifying regions responsive to methamphetamine (meth) associated cues and their functionally connected meta-ensembles.We combined fMRI and a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to assess brain-wide responses to meth associated cues...We expect to find distinct patterns of activity in response to meth vs saline-paired odors across cortical and subcortical structures, indicating a drug-related reward-processing network. These meta-ensembles may provide further evidence of a generalizable drug-cue responsive functional network with central regions serving as basis for targeted investigation and SUD treatments."

Preclinical • Addiction (Opioid and Alcohol) • CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

The role of glutamatergic projections from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus to the nucleus accumbens core in incubated methamphetamine craving (Neuroscience 2026) - "Studies are underway to 1) examine the effect of inhibiting NAcc-projecting PVT neurons and their collaterals to other regions by injecting a Cre-dependent inhibitory DREADD into PVT and a retrograde Cre virus into NAcc, and 2) compare the effect of manipulating anterior vs. posterior PVT projections to NAcc. Finally, photometry studies are in progress to measure activation of PVT-NAcc terminals during seeking tests before and after incubation."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Brain regions activated in rats during the expression of incubation of methamphetamine craving (Neuroscience 2026) - "A parallel analysis for incubation of oxycodone seeking is underway. These results can guide future studies of pathways contributing to methamphetamine and oxycodone incubation."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders • Psychiatry • FOS

Central amygdala activity mediates the protective effect of social volitional abstinence on incubation of drug craving (Neuroscience 2026) - "We then trained male (M) and female (F) rats to lever press to receive 60 s of social interaction (2 h/d x 5 d) and then intravenous methamphetamine (0.1 mg/kg/infusion; 6 h/d x 10 d)...Drug seeking behavioral data trended towards a significant effect of test day when analyzing active lever presses. Furthermore, area under the curve (AUC) for CeA calcium showed significant effects of both test day and behavioral group with a trend towards a test day x group interaction.Conclusions Our data indicates that CeA activity in response to drug-associated cues may be increased during incubated drug seeking."

CNS Disorders

A potential role for nucleus accumbens astrocytes and microglia in incubation of methamphetamine craving (Neuroscience 2026) - "Studies to examine astrocyte and microglia morphology at early vs. late abstinence are ongoing. Completion of these studies will suggest a role for nucleus accumbens astrocytes and microglia in the incubation of meth craving, which will be functionally interrogated in future studies."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry • GFAP

Systematic review of methamphetamine use during pregnancy. (Neuroscience 2026) - "IntroductionThe increase in methamphetamine (crystal meth) use among pregnant women worldwide is alarming due to its effects on the fetus. These consequences can include lower gestational age, lower birth weight, smaller head circumference, shorter neonatal body length, structural brain abnormalities, impaired cognitive and motor development, impaired inhibitory control, attention deficits, neurodevelopmental problems, and behavioral problems.The objective of this systematic review is to identify the different consequences of methamphetamine use during pregnancy on the child, as well as to formulate consequence algorithms based on previous research on the effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure.This systematic review examines the developmental outcomes of children prenatally exposed to methamphetamine using PubMed, systematically searching for studies up to 2026.The findings indicate different approaches for analyzing outcomes,identifying various characteristics to..."

Review • ADHD (Impulsive Aggression) • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder • CNS Disorders

An exposed-state connectome predicts future compulsive methamphetamine seeking and converges across human relapse, treatment response, and molecular addiction signatures (Neuroscience 2026) - "Gene/protein-interaction analyses further linked CPM-derived genes with addiction-related molecular anchors, supporting molecular-context convergence rather than causal mechanism.These findings suggest that controlled animal models can identify exposure-state connectome architectures difficult to isolate in heterogeneous relapse data. The rat-derived architecture translated not as one identical human score, but as broad negative/overlap relapse liability, focused amygdala-striatal treatment response, and convergent addiction-related molecular context."

Addiction (Opioid and Alcohol) • CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Changes in bout organization that suppress activity during acute psychostimulant withdrawal (Neuroscience 2026) - "Our previous report indicated that amphetamine (2 mg/kg) and morphine (5 mg/kg) altered bout organization similarly 13-24 hours after administration, producing reduced activity, a sign of acute withdrawal. This study compared two psychostimulants, methamphetamine and amphetamine, for their ability to alter bout organization and reduce activity indicative of acute withdrawal...Though their pharmacological action on synaptic transmission may differ, both drugs appeared to modify bout organization similarly. Our findings suggest that both drugs may produce a sign of acute withdrawal via a common mechanism and that the mechanisms involved in the basic organization of episodic activity and acute withdrawal may differ."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

CP-AMPAR upregulation in nucleus accumbens synapses during incubation of methamphetamine craving involves retinoic acid signaling and occurs in a cell type- and pathway-specific manner (Neuroscience 2026) - "Our data suggest that abstinence from meth induces CP-AMPAR upregulation through RA signaling in NAcc D1+ MSN and specifically at PVT-D1+ MSN synapses. Despite the complexity of synaptic adaptations depending on the specific inputs, this RA-mediated synaptic adaptation may contribute to the expression of incubated meth craving."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry • RARA

Incubation of methamphetamine craving after food choice-induced voluntary abstinence is not associated with VTA circuit activation (Neuroscience 2026) - "Results suggest that incubation of Meth craving after food choice-induced abstinence is not driven by enhanced activation of VTA neurons or VTA afferents."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Nondopaminergic mechanisms during acute withdrawal following methamphetamine treatment (Neuroscience 2026) - "Previously, we reported that amphetamine (2 mg/kg) increased activity for several hours after treatment, followed by decreased activity, a sign of acute withdrawal,13-24 hours after treatment. When METH dose increased to 1.5 mg/kg, acute withdrawal appeared more likely but less affected by D1 antagonist. Given our previous report that a moderate dose of escitalopram blocked amphetamine-induced acute withdrawal, our findings suggest that changes in a non-dopaminergic system, particularly lack of serotonin, may affect the acute withdrawal state, and that the depression-like state during psychostimulant withdrawal may reflect an altered state of a serotonin system."

CNS Disorders • Depression

Activity of medial prefrontal cortex neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens core during incubation of methamphetamine craving (Neuroscience 2026) - "In parallel, we are extending this approach to the BLA-NAcc pathway and will also use axon-targeted GCaMP to measure pathway-specific terminal activity in NAcc during meth seeking. Together, these studies will help determine how glutamatergic inputs to NAcc are dynamically recruited during incubation of meth craving."

CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Single nucleus transcriptomic profiling of reward circuitry in a rat polysubstance drug-vs.-food choice model (Neuroscience 2026) - "Ongoing analyses are examining sex-dependent effects and convergent molecular pathways across fentanyl, methamphetamine or combined FM conditions. These findings provide a cell type-resolved molecular atlas of reward circuitry following drug-vs.-food choice and identify candidate transcriptional programs that may contribute to maladaptive decision making involved in heightened vulnerability to polysubstance use."

Preclinical • Addiction (Opioid and Alcohol) • CNS Disorders • Mental Retardation

Protracted abstinence from methamphetamine self-administration results in exposure-dependent and cell-type specific changes in corticostriatal synaptic function (Neuroscience 2026) - "Altogether the presented data support sequential DMS-to-DLS changes in corticostriatal synaptic function exclusively in male mice after abstinence. In contrast, female mice show a broader pattern of impact, with changes in both DMS and DLS corticostriatal synaptic function after abstinence from 10 days that transition to DLS-only changes after abstinence from 14 days of MSA."

CNS Disorders

Methamphetamine-seeking behavior and its persistence in an aversive environment in adolescent male and female Sprague-Dawley rats (Neuroscience 2026) - "Results show that chronic METH exposure results in a dose-dependent effect on METH-seeking behavior, with the 1.0 METH dose exhibiting an increase in time spent in the METH-paired environment on the test day, as well as higher time spent in this environment during the extinction and reinstatement phases. Overall, this novel approach enables the study of the persistence of METH-seeking behavior in an aversive environment during adolescence, which can be used to study the neurobiology of SUD in human adolescents."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders

PTSD Symptom Clusters and Substance-Specific Craving Associations in Substance Use Disorder (Neuroscience 2026) - "During the intake survey, participants reported their primary substance as either alcohol, stimulants, cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids, heroin, marijuana, or benzodiazepines as their primary substance...Hyperarousal symptoms demonstrate the strongest overall association with craving, whereas re-experiencing symptoms may be more relevant to substance-specific craving processes. Improved understanding of these relationships may inform targeted interventions for individuals with co-occurring PTSD and SUD."

CNS Disorders • Mood Disorders • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Sex- and estrous cycle-dependent modulation of psychostimulant effects on ventral striatal dopamine release (Neuroscience 2026) - "Here we investigate sex- and estrous cycle-dependent differences in dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens core in the presence of cocaine, methylphenidate, and methamphetamine via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in mice brain slices. We did not observe a significant sex- or estrous cycle-dependent difference in dopamine transmission across all three psychostimulants based on measuring peak height, tau, and Vmax in both tonic (single pulse) and phasic (5Hz, 20Hz, and 100Hz) electrically evoked dopamine stimulation. These data suggest that sexually dimorphic behavioral responses to psychostimulants involve more factors than dopamine release kinetics in the ventral striatum."

CNS Disorders

Social exposure during conditioning in rats reduces conditioned place preference for morphine, but not for methamphetamine (Neuroscience 2026) - "The selectivity of this effect for MO (vs MA) is consistent with the involvement of the endogenous opioid system in social exposure, which may reduce its susceptibility to morphine-induced changes (Van den Berg et al., 1999). Our findings suggest (at least for opioids) that the likelihood of developing SUD may be determined by the social context in which drug exposure occurs."

Preclinical • Addiction (Opioid and Alcohol) • CNS Disorders • Mood Disorders • Tobacco Addiction

Solitary But Not Social Exercise Blunts Methamphetamine Sensitization in Mice (Neuroscience 2026) - "The latter outcome may stem from either stress-induced “resource guarding” between co-habiting female exercise mice or cross-sensitization between social exercise and methamphetamine. The interaction of housing density and exercise on methamphetamine sensitization is complex, with solitary exercise producing strong anti-addiction effects."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders • Psychiatry

Behavioral and neurochemical assessment of vilazodone and its structural analog, CDV-7-21, as potential atypical dopamine transporter inhibitors in male and female rodents (Neuroscience 2026) - "DAT plays a primary role in the addictive liability of psychostimulants, like cocaine or methamphetamine, but there are no reports of VLZ misuse, suggesting its affinity for DAT is not associated with rewarding effects, at least in the population of patients to which it is prescribed. Our results suggest limited efficacy of VLZ and CDV-7-21 on the behavioral and neurochemical tests performed in this study, indicating their potential atypical DAT inhibitory actions. In conclusion, this study provides valuable information on behavioral and neurochemical effects of compounds that would facilitate the discovery of novel pharmacotherapies for the treatment of PSUD and potentially comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders • Depression • Major Depressive Disorder • Mental Retardation

Early Life Adversity Reshapes NAc Dopamine Dynamics During Methamphetamine Reward and Extinction (Neuroscience 2026) - "These findings suggest ELA alters behavioral sensitivity to MA dose and extinction dynamics via changes in NAc DA signaling. Together, these results may shed light on mechanisms underlying SUD risk in vulnerable populations and inform new intervention strategies."

CNS Disorders

Methamphetamine modulates neurotoxicity of HIV-infected iPSC-derived microglia separately from viral production (Neuroscience 2026) - "However, different HIV MOIs varied in their effect in that the highest MOI did not always produce the highest level of neurotoxicity. Therefore, while METH can increase HIV neurotoxicity, the extent of neuronal injury (and NCI) may depend on the HIV inoculum and the intensity of the host’s response in the brain."

Alzheimer's Disease • CNS Disorders • Cognitive Disorders

Acute behavioural and structural impacts of precision 2Gy X-ray whole body irradiation on the rat brain microenvironment (Neuroscience 2026) - "Monoamine-stimulated behaviours were done via a discrete pharmacological challenge: methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity (1 mg/kg IP) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-induced social interaction (MDMA; 5 mg/kg IP)...However, the 2 Gy irradiation showed no significant impact on monoamine stimulated behaviours nor the AQP4 expression profiles and was insufficient to disrupt the mechanisms governing volume neurotransmission. This work validates a behavioural framework showing that low-dose irradiation induces significant anxiety-like traits without altering volume neurotransmission, establishing a foundation to investigate the impacts of clinically relevant dose plans and mitigate neurocognitive complications in radiotherapy."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders • Cognitive Disorders • Depression • Mood Disorders • AQP4