Sex Differences and the Role of Estradiol in Mesolimbic Reward Circuits and Vulnerability to Cocaine and Opiate Addiction

Although both men and women become addicted to drugs of abuse, women transition to addiction faster, experience greater difficulties remaining abstinent, and relapse more often than men. In both humans and rodents, these sex differences in progression to addiction are associated with hormonal cycles. Higher concentrations and fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones in females modulate the mesolimbic reward system and influence reward-directed...