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9/16/2025- Learning about the brain mechanisms of addiction increases treatment adherence and strengthens recovery motivation (https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.240153).
Reference: Borgland S. L. (2024). Neuroscience education for people living with addiction. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience: JPN, 49(6), E440-E443.
- The brain’s reward system fuels “wanting” but doesn’t necessarily increase “liking.” In other words, over time a person may crave a substance or behavior more and more, yet not enjoy it any more than before. This distinction helps explain why addiction is so difficult to overcome. Experts warn that treatments focusing only on reducing pleasure may fail, because the real problem lies in the growing power of “wanting.” (https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-011624-024031)
Reference: Robinson, T. E., & Berridge, K. C. (2025). The incentive-sensitization theory of addiction 30 years on. Annual Review of Psychology, 76, 29–58.
- Addiction is not merely a pursuit of pleasure; it involves a shift in behavioral control from goal-directed systems to habit-based systems in the brain. Research shows that, over time, behavior in addiction moves away from goal-directed control and becomes dominated by automatic and habitual neural circuits. This process is associated with a weakening of executive control in the prefrontal cortex and an increasing influence of the dorsal striatum over behavior. As a result, substance use ceases to be a conscious choice and instead becomes an automatic and compulsive behavior triggered by powerful environmental cues. This mechanism helps explain why the tendency to use substances may persist even after cessation (http://(https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033457).
Reference: Everitt, B. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2016). Drug addiction: Updating actions to habits to compulsions ten years on. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 23–50.
Last Updated At: 12/30/2025