Computational Neuroscience Of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction remains one of the most important public health problems in western societies and is a rising concern for developing nations. Over the past 3 decades, experimental research on the neurobiology and psychology of drug addiction has generated a torrent of exciting data, from the molecular up to the behavioral levels. As a result, a new and pressing challenge for addiction research is to formulate a synthetic theoretical framework that goes well beyond mere scientific eclectism to deepen our understanding of drug addiction and to foster our capacity to prevent and to cure drug addiction. Intrigued by the apparent irrational behavior of drug addicts, researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines have formulated a plethora of theoretical schemes over the years to understand addiction. However, most of these theories and models are qualitative in nature and are formulated using terms that are often ill-defined. As a result, the empirical validity of these models has been difficult to test rigorously, which has served to generate more controversy than clarity. In this context, as in other scientific fields, mathematical and computational modeling should contribute to the development of more testable and rigorous models of addiction.

Drug addiction remains one of the most important public health problems in western societies and is a rising concern for developing nations. Over the past 3 decades, experimental research on the neurobiology and psychology of drug addiction has generated a torrent of exciting data, from the molecular up to the behavioral levels. As a result, a new and pressing challenge for addiction research is to formulate a synthetic theoretical framework that goes well beyond mere scientific eclectism to deepen our understanding of drug addiction and to foster our capacity to prevent and to cure drug addiction. Intrigued by the apparent irrational behavior of drug addicts, researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines have formulated a plethora of theoretical schemes over the years to understand addiction. However, most of these theories and models are qualitative in nature and are formulated using terms that are often ill-defined. As a result, the empirical validity of these models has been difficult to test rigorously, which has served to generate more controversy than clarity. In this context, as in other scientific fields, mathematical and computational modeling should contribute to the development of more testable and rigorous models of addiction.

Cognitive, Clinical, and Neural Aspects of Drug Addiction focuses on the theories that cause drug addiction, including avoidance behavior, self-medication, reward sensitization, behavioral inhibition and impulsivity. Dr. Moustafa takes this book one-step further by reviewing the psychological causes of relapse, including the role stress, anxiety and depression play. By examining both the causes of drug addiction and relapse, this book will help clinicians create individualized treatment options for their patients suffering from drug addiction. Understanding the development of individual drug addictions are often difficult to understand and, more often, difficult to treat. The most successful treatments begin with studying why individuals become addicted to drugs and how to change their thinking and behavior.

Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing mental illness involving severe motivational disturbances and loss of behavioral control leading to personal dev- tation. The disorder af?icts millions of people, often co-occurring with other mental illnesses with enormous social and economic costs to society. Several decades of research have established that drugs of abuse hijack the brain’s natural reward substrates, and that chronic drug use causes aberrant alterations in these rewa- processing systems. Such aberrations may be demonstrated at the cellular, neu- transmitter, and regional levels of information processing using either animal models or neuroimaging in humans following chronic drug exposure. Behaviorally, these neural aberrations manifest as exaggerated, altered or dysfunctional expr- sion of learned behavioral responses related to the pursuit of drug rewards, or to environmental factors that precipitate craving and relapse during periods of drug withdrawal. Current research efforts are aimed at understanding the associative and causal relationships between these neurobiological and behavioral events, such that treatment options will ultimately employ therapeutic amelioration of neural de?cits and restoration of normal brain processing to promote efforts to abstain from further drug use. The Behavioral Neuroscience of Drug Addiction, part of the Springer series on Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, contains scholarly reviews by noted experts on multiple topics from both basic and clinical neuroscience ?elds.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of physiological, biochemical, and genetic pathways underlying drug addiction, and resultant efforts to develop novel treatment strategies dealing with drug addiction and other CNS disorders where the neurophysiological processes overlap, such as treatment of pain. The volume focuses on the translation of fundamental addiction research to a variety of treatments and brings together scientists with wide ranging expertise.

Drugs, Addiction, and the Brain explores the molecular, cellular, and neurocircuitry systems in the brain that are responsible for drug addiction. Common neurobiological elements are emphasized that provide novel insights into how the brain mediates the acute rewarding effects of drugs of abuse and how it changes during the transition from initial drug use to compulsive drug use and addiction. The book provides a detailed overview of the pathophysiology of the disease. The information provided will be useful for neuroscientists in the field of addiction, drug abuse treatment providers, and undergraduate and postgraduate students who are interested in learning the diverse effects of drugs of abuse on the brain. Full-color circuitry diagrams of brain regions implicated in each stage of the addiction cycle Actual data figures from original sources illustrating key concepts and findings Introduction to basic neuropharmacology terms and concepts Introduction to numerous animal models used to study diverse aspects of drug use. Thorough review of extant work on the neurobiology of addiction

Neurobiology of Addiction is conceived as a current survey and synthesis of the most important findings in our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction over the past 50 years. The book includes a scholarly introduction, thorough descriptions of animal models of addiction, and separate chapters on the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction for psychostimulants, opioids, alcohol, nicotine and cannabinoids. Key information is provided about the history, sources, and pharmacokinetics and psychopathology of addiction of each drug class, as well as the behavioral and neurobiological mechanism of action for each drug class at the molecular, cellular and neurocircuitry level of analysis. A chapter on neuroimaging and drug addiction provides a synthesis of exciting new data from neuroimaging in human addicts — a unique perspective unavailable from animal studies. The final chapters explore theories of addiction at the neurobiological and neuroadaptational level both from a historical and integrative perspective. The book incorporates diverse finding with an emphasis on integration and synthesis rather than discrepancies or differences in the literature. · Presents a unique perspective on addiction that emphasizes molecular, cellular and neurocircuitry changes in the transition to addiction · Synthesizes diverse findings on the neurobiology of addiction to provide a heuristic framework for future work · Features extensive documentation through numerous original figures and tables that that will be useful for understanding and teaching

Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing mental illness involving severe motivational disturbances and loss of behavioral control leading to personal dev- tation. The disorder af?icts millions of people, often co-occurring with other mental illnesses with enormous social and economic costs to society. Several decades of research have established that drugs of abuse hijack the brain's natural reward substrates, and that chronic drug use causes aberrant alterations in these rewa- processing systems. Such aberrations may be demonstrated at the cellular, neu- transmitter, and regional levels of information processing using either animal models or neuroimaging in humans following chronic drug exposure. Behaviorally, these neural aberrations manifest as exaggerated, altered or dysfunctional expr- sion of learned behavioral responses related to the pursuit of drug rewards, or to environmental factors that precipitate craving and relapse during periods of drug withdrawal. Current research efforts are aimed at understanding the associative and causal relationships between these neurobiological and behavioral events, such that treatment options will ultimately employ therapeutic amelioration of neural de?cits and restoration of normal brain processing to promote efforts to abstain from further drug use. The Behavioral Neuroscience of Drug Addiction, part of the Springer series on Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, contains scholarly reviews by noted experts on multiple topics from both basic and clinical neuroscience ?elds.