title: Cocaine addiction as a homeostatic reinforcement learning disorder.
abstract: Drug addiction implicates both reward learning and homeostatic regulation mechanisms of the brain. This has stimulated 2 partially successful theoretical perspectives on addiction. Many important aspects of addiction, however, remain to be explained within a single, unified framework that integrates the 2 mechanisms. Building upon a recently developed homeostatic reinforcement learning theory, the authors focus on a key transition stage of addiction that is well modeled in animals, escalation of drug use, and propose a computational theory of cocaine addiction where cocaine reinforces behavior due to its rapid homeostatic corrective effect, whereas its chronic use induces slow and long-lasting changes in homeostatic setpoint. Simulations show that our new theory accounts for key behavioral and neurobiological features of addiction, most notably, escalation of cocaine use, drug-primed craving and relapse, individual differences underlying dose-response curves, and dopamine D2-receptor downregulation in addicts. The theory also generates unique predictions about cocaine self-administration behavior in rats that are confirmed by new experimental results. Viewing addiction as a homeostatic reinforcement learning disorder coherently explains many behavioral and neurobiological aspects of the transition to cocaine addiction, and suggests a new perspective toward understanding addiction. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keramati
authors.affiliation: Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.affiliation: Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardeau
authors.affiliation: Group for Neural Theory, INSERM U960, Departément des Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6409-979X
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gutkin
authors.affiliation: Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux.
authors.forename: Serge H
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1225-9234
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D066249:Craving; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D051381:Rats; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000378:metabolism; D012008:Recurrence; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012646:Self Administration
chemical_list: D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2