Addiction.
The development of addiction involves a transition from casual to compulsive patterns of drug use. This transition to addiction is accompanied by many drug-induced changes in the brain and associated changes in psychological functions. In this article we present a critical analysis of the major theoretical explanations of how drug-induced alterations in psychological function might cause a transition to addiction. These include: (a) the traditional hedonic view that drug pleasure and subsequent unpleasant withdrawal symptoms are the chief causes of addiction; (b) the view that addiction is due to aberrant learning, especially the development of strong stimulus-response habits; (c) our incentive-sensitization view, which suggests that sensitization of a neural system that attributes incentive salience causes compulsive motivation or "wanting" to take addictive drugs; and (d) the idea that dysfunction of frontal cortical systems, which normally regulate decision making and inhibitory control over behavior, leads to impaired judgment and impulsivity in addicts.
Department of Psychology (Biopsychology Program), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1109, USA. ter@umich.edu
Terry E
TE
Robinson
Kent C
KC
Berridge
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000633:toxicity; D009042:Motivation; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010990:Pleasure-Pain Principle; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation
D013287:Illicit Drugs