Unbalanced neuronal circuits in addiction

Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2013 Aug;23(4):639-48. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.01.002. Epub 2013 Feb 21.

Abstract

Through sequential waves of drug-induced neurochemical stimulation, addiction co-opts the brain's neuronal circuits that mediate reward, motivation to behavioral inflexibility and a severe disruption of self-control and compulsive drug intake. Brain imaging technologies have allowed neuroscientists to map out the neural landscape of addiction in the human brain and to understand how drugs modify it.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Central Nervous System Agents / adverse effects
  • Humans
  • Nerve Net / drug effects
  • Nerve Net / pathology*
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Neurons / enzymology
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / pathology*

Substances

  • Central Nervous System Agents