Addiction and Neuroscience
Our knowledge of the neurobiological foundations of drug reinforcement and addiction has significantly advanced as a result of the application of neuroscientific tools in laboratory animals and people. As a result, addiction, once thought of as a "moral deficiency," is now more commonly recognized as a chronic relapsing disorder marked by a strong urge to use drugs, a progressive loss of control over using drugs, and an increase in drug use despite numerous (failed) attempts to abstain from doing so. It is also acknowledged that addiction develops in the context of intricate biopsychosocial interactions between a drug's pharmacological effects, a person's vulnerabilities (such as genetic and epigenetic makeup, stage of development, and pre-existing pathology), a person's social isolation, and other sociocultural elements (e.g., normative behaviours regarding drug use, affordability and availability of drugs, legal status). Understanding why some people who are consistently exposed to drugs do not get addicted and why some addicts recover while others do not require research on the processes behind the modulatory influence of unfavourable social circumstances, early experiences, and genetic variability. Currently, it is unclear what triggers a person to move from drug experimentation to addiction, which happens when someone loses the ability to resist the overwhelming temptation to use drugs despite being aware of its potential negative effects and wishing to abstain from doing so. We do, however, know that this transition is linked to observable changes in several brain circuits, such as those in charge of training, reward sensitivity, incentive motivation, self-monitoring/regulation, mood, and interoception.
Sub Track:
- Aducanumab
- Levetriacetam
- Topiramate
- Lamotrigine
- Gabapentin