Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Addiction is a chronic brain disease that has dramatic health and socioeconomic consequences worldwide. Multiple approaches have been used for decades to clarify the neurobiological basis of this disease and to identify novel potential treatments. This review summarizes the main brain networks involved in the vulnerability to addiction and specific innovative technological approaches to investigate these neural circuits. First, the evolution of the definition of addiction across the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is revised. We next discuss several innovative experimental techniques that, combined with behavioral approaches, have allowed recent critical advances in understanding the neural circuits involved in addiction, including DREADDs, calcium imaging, and electrophysiology. All these techniques have been used to investigate specific neural circuits involved in vulnerability to addiction and have been extremely useful to clarify the neurobiological basis of each specific component of the addictive process. These novel tools targeting specific brain regions are of great interest to further understand the different aspects of this complex disease. This article is part of the special issue on 'Vulnerabilities to Substance Abuse.'.
Source: Neuropharmacology
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
Funders: Fundació la Marató de TV3, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
OpenAlex ID: W3123595027