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Neurobiology of addiction: treatment and public policy ramifications

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 1431–1436 (2005)Cite this article

In the United States, efforts to treat addiction are hampered by prejudice and a public view that treats it as a disorder of self-control, not a disease. We highlight select advances in addiction research that, if disseminated to the public, could reverse these misconceptions and facilitate changes in policy to improve treatment access and care delivery for this highly prevalent disease.

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Figure 1: The cycle of addiction is positively reinforced by drug euphoria and negatively reinforced by withdrawal, craving and hedonic dysregulation.
Figure 2

Reprinted with permission from the American Journal of Psychiatry, Copyright 1999. American Psychiatric Association.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A.R. Childress for contributing Figure 2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Psychiatry, 3900 Chestnut Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Charles Dackis

  2. the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Treatment Research Center, 3900 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Charles O'Brien

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  1. Charles Dackis
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  2. Charles O'Brien
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Dackis, C., O'Brien, C. Neurobiology of addiction: treatment and public policy ramifications. Nat Neurosci 8, 1431–1436 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1105-1431

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