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The neuroscience of addiction

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 1429–1430 (2005)Cite this article

Scientists are now able to portray addiction as a medical disease with physiological and molecular changes thanks to the scientific and technological advances that have occurred over the past decade. The articles in this issue highlight some of the remarkable progress that has revolutionized our understanding of the neurobiology of addiction and the way we treat it. Here we highlight some of the compelling neuroscientific questions about substance abuse, the answers for which will further improve prevention and treatment of addiction.

In this editorial we use the term addiction rather than drug dependence, which is the clinical term favored by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition; DSM-IV), to avoid confusion with physical dependence. Physical dependence refers to the adaptations that result in withdrawal symptoms when drugs such as alcohol and heroin are discontinued. Those are distinct from the adaptations that result in addiction, which refers to the loss of control over the intense urges to take the drug even at the expense of adverse consequences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse,

    Nora Volkow

  2. Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,

    Ting-Kai Li

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  1. Nora Volkow
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  2. Ting-Kai Li
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Volkow, N., Li, TK. The neuroscience of addiction. Nat Neurosci 8, 1429–1430 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1105-1429

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