The Effects of Methamphetamine-induced Dopamine Release on the Brain - A/Professor Rebecca McKetin

Associate Professor Rebecca McKetin is a Curtin Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director at the National Drug Research Institute. Rebecca’s research has focussed on methamphetamine (‘ice’ or ‘crystal meth’), for which she has received an NSW/ACT Young Tall Poppy Science Award. Her major achievements include developing methods to estimate the number of people dependent on methamphetamine use in Australia, establishing a world-first longitudinal treatment outcomes study for methamphetamine use (the Methamphetamine Treatment Evaluation Study), quantifying the risk of mental health problems associated with the use of the drug, and developing an online intervention for people who use methamphetamine (Breaking the Ice).
Take-Home Points:
• N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) is a drug that may be able to reduce the ​craving for methamphetamine.
• There has been an increase in methamphetamine use in Australia in the past decade.
• Psychotic symptoms associated with meth abuse tend to be short (2-3 hours) with only a few individuals experiencing long term symptoms of more than 1 month.
Full article: psychscenehub.com/video/ice-e...