A new research was conducted at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and was published in PNAS. This study focussed on dependence on oxycodone a potent opioid painkiller led to permanent neuro-adaptations of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) at the level of the nociceptin system a brain-wide network that modulates the transmission of pain. Downregulation or suppression of the nociceptin system in the CeA led to an increase in activation of GABA receptors in rats highly addicted to opioids. When researchers restored nociceptin levels in the CeA it resulted in normalization of GABAergic transmission and
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