ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News


Molecular 'connector' helps cocaine latch on to brain cells, even when drug is in low doses

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 06:51 AM PDT

Scientists have long known that cocaine works by latching on to molecular connectors on the surface of brain cells, allowing dopamine, a chemical that promotes feelings of pleasure and reward, to accumulate in the space between brain cells. Now scientists say they have found a molecular connector, known as the BASP1 receptor, that binds cocaine, even when the drug is present in very low doses.