The influence of serotonin on addiction vulnerability

When thining about addiction, or substance use disorder (SUD), one usually thinks about dopamine, the neurotransmitter involved in the “reward pathways” in the brain. Yet much recent work is starting to show that serotonin has a much greater role in SUD than was previously known. We are currently working on a review of the literature to gather this evidence from the last 10 years. Our hope is this new information will help guide further knowledge and insight into battling the current epidemic of heroin and methamphetamine overdose and overdose death.