Invited reviewReward, interrupted: Inhibitory control and its relevance to addictions
Section snippets
Motivated actions and inhibition
Like food/nutrients, water and sexual stimuli, drugs of abuse act as behavioral reinforcers, and humans and non-human animals are motivated to obtain them (Brady, 1991; Johanson, 1978; Spealman and Goldberg, 1978; Weeks, 1962). Since the work of Olds and Milner in the 1950s (Olds and Milner, 1954), an immense amount has been learned about the neural pathways that mediate reinforcement and reward and that allow drugs of abuse to support seeking and taking behaviors (Gardner, 2011; Haber and
Inhibitory control deficits in addiction
It is well-established that addictions are associated with reduced inhibitory control (Ersche et al., 2011, 2008, 2012; Fillmore and Rush, 2002, 2006; Lee et al., 2009; Monterosso et al., 2005). These investigations involved the use of a variety of laboratory measures conventionally thought to measure inhibitory control over pre-potent or impulsive responses, including self-report measures of impulsivity (Patton et al., 1995), the stop signal reaction time task, multiple choice serial reaction
The neural circuitry of inhibitory control
Earlier models linking inhibitory control deficits to addiction proposed a central role for catecholamine transmitters in regulating frontostriatal circuits (Jentsch and Taylor, 1999). This hypothesis was supported by findings that substance dependent individuals displayed reduced prefrontal glucose utilization (Volkow et al., 1991, Volkow et al., 1992, Volkow et al., 1993), that damage to prefrontal regions in humans and animals resulted in disinhibited and perseverative behaviors (Butter, 1969
Dopamine
Medium spiny neurons of the striatum have canonically been divided into two populations: those of the striatonigral pathway that express dopamine D1 receptors and those of the striatopallidal pathway that express dopamine D2-like receptors (Gerfen et al., 1990). In line with imaging studies showing decreased striatal D2-like receptor availability in substance dependence, pharmacological and genetic studies have accentuated a role for striatopallidal neurons in inhibitory control. A study
Inhibitory control and process addictions
Mounting evidence suggests that inhibitory control deficits are not unique to addictions to drugs of abuse, but rather, may also play a role in process addictions, such as pathological gambling, compulsive overeating and/or sex addiction (Batterink et al., 2010; Blaszczynski et al., 1997; Cserjési et al., 2007; Jasinska et al., 2012; Leeman and Potenza, 2012; Steel and Blaszczynski, 1998; Verdejo-García et al., 2010; Vitaro et al., 1997). In light of the observation that inhibitory control
Conclusions
Over the past dozen years or so, the concept that inhibitory control abilities are crucial to conceptual models of addiction has become well accepted in the field. Moreover, its relationship to addictions – both as a susceptibility factor and mediator of the progressive transition from use, to abuse, to dependence – has also been well established. Important roles of dopamine D2-like and serotonin receptors have also been delineated. Nevertheless, much work remains to be done. Only recently have
Acknowledgments
The preparation of this article was supported, in part, by PHS grants R01-DA031852 (JDJ) and T32-DA024635 (Edythe London).
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