When scientists look at addiction, one thing they are searching for is determining the level of control an individual has over their attitude toward their substance of choice. In other words, can the addict control cravings for the substance? Can they keep themselves away from situations where they are more likely to use?

Of course the ability to control and make the right decisions plays into effective treatment programs, yet researchers still want to determine how much the addict can actually control. When it comes to cocaine addiction, one study, featured in a Science Daily release, suggests that cocaine users have more control than originally assumed.

The study was conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. Active cocaine abusers were asked to inhibit their response to certain “cocaine-cues” presented in a video. On average, the abusers were actually able to suppress activity in regions of the brain that are linked to drug craving. Such results suggest that a strengthening of these inhibitory responses could in fact help cocaine abusers to stop using drugs and avoid relapse.

According to Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one of the most common factors that contribute to relapse is the exposure to drugs or stimuli that are associated with using drugs. While certain drug cues are known to trigger changes in the brain, cocaine abusers do retain some level of cognitive ability to inhibit such cravings.