Some of you know that I write a blog that includes some writing about scientific areas that I follow. I have been watching some of the research into motivational factors in addiction, and wrote about it in an entry today. I thought some folks here might find it interesting, too, so here is my blog entry, below. Questions and comments very welcome!
There is some fascinating research going on about the psychological (or mental) factors involved in addiction. Who gets addicted, and why? How is it that some people who are exposed to a particular "addictive" substance get "hooked," and others can "take it or leave it"?
For quite a long time, the question of addiction to pain medication has been a troubling issue in medicine. Many patients and many doctors are reluctant to use adequate pain management because of fearfulness that using opiates will result in addiction; and this has even been true for patients who have very severe pain, and little (if any) hope of long-term survival. However, it appears that the use of opiate-based pain medications in medical settings rarely results in addiction, even though those same opiates are considered highly addictive. How does this work? Could it be that the reason a person is taking a drug has an impact on whether or not the drug-taking leads to what we call "addiction"? Apparently, yes. And some recent research is beginning to help clarify this question.
It turns out that the brain pathways that are involved in the extremely strong subjectively felt (and physically sensed) cravings for an "addictive" substance, among those people who have histories of long-term use/abuse of the substance, are created not merely by the mechanical/chemical actions involved in repeated administrations of the drug, but also by the motivational (psychological) factors involved in repeatedly choosing to use the drug. Once again, simplistic explanations of clinical phenomena, in which the neurochemical mechanisms are artificially considered apart from the psychological factors that are most certainly brain-based (i.e., neurochemically based), are found to be inadequate and misleading.
Here's an excerpt from a Scientific American article that describes a fascinating study:
Implications: among other possible ways that these findings might end up being helpful and useful in the prevention and treatment of addiction, we should note at the very outset that motivational factors (paying careful and disciplined attention to our values and goals), cognitive factors (how do we label our own feelings, and what are our expectations and hopes about our behaviors, etc.), and other psychological factors that are (at least to some extent) within our own conscious control can indeed have a major impact on the behaviors we choose.
There is some fascinating research going on about the psychological (or mental) factors involved in addiction. Who gets addicted, and why? How is it that some people who are exposed to a particular "addictive" substance get "hooked," and others can "take it or leave it"?
For quite a long time, the question of addiction to pain medication has been a troubling issue in medicine. Many patients and many doctors are reluctant to use adequate pain management because of fearfulness that using opiates will result in addiction; and this has even been true for patients who have very severe pain, and little (if any) hope of long-term survival. However, it appears that the use of opiate-based pain medications in medical settings rarely results in addiction, even though those same opiates are considered highly addictive. How does this work? Could it be that the reason a person is taking a drug has an impact on whether or not the drug-taking leads to what we call "addiction"? Apparently, yes. And some recent research is beginning to help clarify this question.
It turns out that the brain pathways that are involved in the extremely strong subjectively felt (and physically sensed) cravings for an "addictive" substance, among those people who have histories of long-term use/abuse of the substance, are created not merely by the mechanical/chemical actions involved in repeated administrations of the drug, but also by the motivational (psychological) factors involved in repeatedly choosing to use the drug. Once again, simplistic explanations of clinical phenomena, in which the neurochemical mechanisms are artificially considered apart from the psychological factors that are most certainly brain-based (i.e., neurochemically based), are found to be inadequate and misleading.
Here's an excerpt from a Scientific American article that describes a fascinating study:
Scientists know that addictive drugs can mess with the brain’s circuitry and hijack its reward systems, but a July 31 rat study in the journal Neuron shows that psychological factors may be more instrumental in causing these changes than a drug’s chemical effects are. Cocaine use triggers long-lasting cellular memories in the brain, the study found—but only if the user consumes the drug voluntarily.
A team [of researchers] trained three groups of rats to press levers that delivered cocaine, food or sugar. The researchers injected cocaine into a fourth group. When they examined the rats’ brain tissue, they found an increase in synaptic strength within the reward center in those rats that had self-administered sugar, food or cocaine. These cellular memories were short-lived in the sugar and food groups, but in rats that had self-administered cocaine they persisted for up to three months after consumption had stopped. Most interestingly, the brains of rats that had consumed cocaine involuntarily did not show such imprints. The findings illustrate that the pharmacological effects of cocaine alone are not enough to create reward-associated memories, Bonci says. “Instead the motivation for taking the drug seems to be a key component in the process as well."
A team [of researchers] trained three groups of rats to press levers that delivered cocaine, food or sugar. The researchers injected cocaine into a fourth group. When they examined the rats’ brain tissue, they found an increase in synaptic strength within the reward center in those rats that had self-administered sugar, food or cocaine. These cellular memories were short-lived in the sugar and food groups, but in rats that had self-administered cocaine they persisted for up to three months after consumption had stopped. Most interestingly, the brains of rats that had consumed cocaine involuntarily did not show such imprints. The findings illustrate that the pharmacological effects of cocaine alone are not enough to create reward-associated memories, Bonci says. “Instead the motivation for taking the drug seems to be a key component in the process as well."
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