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Neurobiology of Craving: Current Findings and New Directions

  • Adolescent/Young Adult Addiction (T Chung, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

This review seeks to provide an update on the current literature on craving and its underlying neurobiology, as it pertains to alcohol and drug addiction.

Recent Findings

Studies on craving neurobiology suggest that the brain networks activated by conditioned cues in alcohol- and drug-dependent populations extend far beyond the traditional mesolimbic dopamine system and suggest that the early neurobiological theories of addiction, which heavily relied on dopamine release into the nucleus accumbens as the primary mechanism driving cue-induced craving and drug-seeking behavior, are incomplete. Ongoing studies will advance our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction and drug craving by identifying novel brain regions associated with responses to conditioned cues that may be specific to humans, or at least primates, due to these brain areas’ involvement in higher cognitive processes.

Summary

This review highlights recent advances and future directions in leveraging the neurobiology of craving as a translational phenotype for understanding addiction etiology and informing treatment development. The complexity of craving and its underlying neurocircuitry is evident and divergent methods of eliciting craving (i.e., cues, stress, and alcohol administration) may produce divergent findings.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA

    Lara A. Ray

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA

    Lara A. Ray & Daniel J. O. Roche

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Ray, L.A., Roche, D.J.O. Neurobiology of Craving: Current Findings and New Directions. Curr Addict Rep 5, 102–109 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-018-0202-2

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