Opioid drug overdoses now claim almost as many lives each year as car accidents in the U.S.
In the last 10 years, opioid-related deaths have nearly tripled and opioid addiction is now regarded as a nationwide epidemic by the Center for Disease Control. In response to the growing epidemic, UCLA students and researchers have been seeking to better understand opioid addiction and find solutions to the problem.
The Walwyn Laboratory at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA investigates how opioids can alter brain connectivity and the functions of opioid receptors. Another research group at the Semel Institute, the Center for Study of Opioid Receptors and Drugs of Abuse focuses on researching the specific mechanisms of opioids that distinguish it from other drugs.
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