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Plasticity of reward neurocircuitry and the 'dark side' of drug addiction

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 1442–1444 (2005)Cite this article

Drug seeking is associated with activation of reward neural circuitry. Here we argue that drug addiction also involves a 'dark side'—a decrease in the function of normal reward-related neurocircuitry and persistent recruitment of anti-reward systems. Understanding the neuroplasticity of the dark side of this circuitry is the key to understanding vulnerability to addiction.

Drug addiction has been conceptualized as a progression from impulsive to compulsive behavior, ending in chronic, relapsing drug taking. Patients with impulse control disorders experience an increasing sense of tension or arousal before committing an impulsive act; pleasure, gratification or relief at the time of committing the act; and then regret, self-reproach or guilt after the act1. In contrast, patients with compulsive disorders experience anxiety and stress before committing a compulsive repetitive behavior, then relief from the stress by performing the behavior1. In addiction, drug-taking behavior progresses from impulsivity to compulsivity in a three-stage cycle: binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect and preoccupation/anticipation2. In the impulsive stage, the drive for the drug-taking behavior is positive reinforcement, in which stimuli increase the probability of the response. As individuals move to the compulsive stage, the drive transitions to negative reinforcement, in which removal of the aversive state increases the probability of the response. Different theoretical perspectives from experimental psychology (positive and negative reinforcement framework), social psychology (self-regulation failure framework) and neurobiology (counteradaptive and sensitization framework) can be superimposed on the stages of the addiction cycle2. These stages are thought to feed into each other, becoming more intense and ultimately leading to the pathological state known as addiction.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Arends for his assistance with the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Department, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    George F Koob

  2. the Laboratoire de Physiopathologie des Comportements, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unite 588, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France

    Michel Le Moal

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Koob, G., Le Moal, M. Plasticity of reward neurocircuitry and the 'dark side' of drug addiction. Nat Neurosci 8, 1442–1444 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1105-1442

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