Drug Addiction, Dysregulation of Reward, and Allostasis

Executive Dysfunction and Reward Dysregulation: Interactions in Drug Addiction

Allostasis in health and food addiction

Homeostasis is the basis of modern medicine and allostasis, a further elaboration of homeostasis, has been defined as stability through change, which was later modified to predictive reference resetting. It has been suggested that pleasure is related to salience (behavioral relevance), and withdrawal has been linked to allostasis in addictive types. The question arises how the clinical and neur...

Glutamatergic transmission in drug reward: implications for drug addiction

Individuals addicted to drugs of abuse such as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, and heroin are a significant burden on healthcare systems all over the world. The positive reinforcing (rewarding) effects of the above mentioned drugs play a major role in the initiation and maintenance of the drug-taking habit. Thus, understanding the neurochemical mechanisms underlying the reinforcing effects of drugs...

The role of affective dysregulation in drug addiction.

Although affective and substance use disorders frequently co-occur, the role of affective dysregulation in addiction is often overlooked. This paper reviews the role of affective dysregulation in the initiation and maintenance of substance use disorders (SUDs), presenting evidence for a relationship between SUD and three biologically-based dimensions of affective temperament and behaviour: nega...

Reward processing and drug addiction: does sex matter?

Reward processing is crucial to our health and wellbeing and dysfunctional brain reward signaling is a component of a number of psychiatric disorders, including major depression and drug addiction. Rewarding behaviors like eating, parenting, nursing, social play, and sexual activity are powerfully preserved in evolution and are essential for survival. All of them gratifying, they represent enjo...