The studies could help researchers determine what makes some people more vulnerable to addiction. The research could also be valuable in developing new anti-drug therapies.

In a study by lead researcher Pier Vincenzo Piazza of INSERM, France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research, rats were allowed access to cocaine for three months. When the researchers stopped the supply of the drug, the rats became persistent and worked harder to get the cocaine, despite receiving an electric shock in their feet when going for the drug.

In a study led by Louk Vanderschuren at the University of Cambridge in England, researchers found that the rats that were given cocaine for longer periods continued to take the drug even after receiving an electric shock. Rats who were given cocaine for a short period quit after having been given the electric shock.

"What confers susceptibility to experimenting and trying drugs may be quite different than what changes your brain and leads to addiction," said Terry Robinson, a University of Michigan neuroscientist. "These articles provide us the approaches and the techniques to ask the latter."

The research is published in the August 13, 2004 issue of Science.

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