Brain scans may hold clues to addiction

Study looked at pairs of siblings

LONDON - Drug addicts and their non-addicted siblings share certain features in the brain, which suggests a susceptibility to addiction is inherited but is also a flaw that can be overcome, scientists said on Thursday.

Researchers who scanned the brains of 50 pairs of brothers and sisters of whom one was a cocaine addict found that both siblings had brain abnormalities that make it more difficult for them to exercise self-control.