The epigenetic landscape of addiction

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Abstract
Drug‐induced alterations in gene expression throughout the reward circuitry of the brain are likely components of the persistence of the drug‐addicted state. Recent studies examining the molecular mechanisms controlling drug‐induced transcriptional, behavioral, and synaptic plasticity have indicated a direct role for chromatin remodeling in the regulation and stability of drug‐mediated neuronal gene programs, and the subsequent promulgation of addictive behaviors. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of chromatin phenomena—or epigenetics, by one definition—that contribute to drug addiction, with the hope that such mechanistic insights may aid in the development of novel therapeutics for future treatments of addiction.