ArticlePsychopharmacology2013
A multistep general theory of transition to addiction.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers.
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Who cites it
106 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Impulse Inhibition in Abstinent Patients With Methamphetamine Addiction: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2020Trial
- Corticosteroid Receptor Modulation in the Dorsal Striatum Prevents Morphine-Induced Place Preference and Reduction in Dopamine Transporter (DAT) Immunoreactivity in Rats.Addiction biology · 2026Article
- A Male Mouse Model of WIN 55,212-2 Self-Administration to Study Cannabinoid Addiction.Bio-protocol · 2026Article
- Compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU): A comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and expert-informed narrative review with suggested future directions.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Review
- Dopamine receptor sensitivity, cocaine-induced behaviors, and Pavlovian conditioned approach in male rats.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific patterns of vulnerability to alcohol addiction-like behaviors in rats.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Regulation of glial markers expression in the rat basolateral amygdala and hippocampus during morphine aversive memory retrieval and its extinction.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2025Article
- Dopamine receptor sensitivity and Pavlovian conditioned approach.Research square · 2025Article
- Epigenetic Dysregulation in Alcohol-Associated Behaviors: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Effect of exercise duration on toluene-induced locomotor sensitization in mice: a focus on the Renin Angiotensin System.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Neuroscience and addiction research: current advances and perspectives.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Article
- Behavioral characterization of early nicotine withdrawal in the mouse: a potential model of acute dependence.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2024Article
- Neuron Navigator 1 (Nav1) regulates the response to cocaine in mice.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Alprazolam exposure during adolescence induces long-lasting dysregulation in reward sensitivity to morphine and second messenger signaling in the VTA-NAc pathway.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Amphetamine-induced prolonged disturbances in tissue levels of dopamine and serotonin in the rat brain.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2023Article
- Abstinence from Escalation of Cocaine Intake Changes the microRNA Landscape in the Cortico-Accumbal Pathway.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Cocaine-induced plasticity, motivation, and cue responsivity do not differ in obesity-prone vs obesity-resistant rats; implications for food addiction.Psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Editorial: The role of emotional dysregulation in addiction.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- THC exposure during adolescence increases impulsivity-like behavior in adulthood in a WIN 55,212-2 self-administration mouse model.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSeveral theories propose alternative explanations for drug addiction.
objectivesWe propose a general theory of transition to addiction that synthesizes knowledge generated in the field of addiction into a unitary explanatory frame. MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF THE THEORY: Transition to addiction results from a sequential three-step interaction between: (1) individual vulnerability; (2) degree/amount of drug exposure. The first step, sporadic recreational drug use is a learning process mediated by overactivation of neurobiological substrates of natural rewards that allows most individuals to perceive drugs as highly rewarding stimuli. The second, intensified, sustained, escalated drug use occurs in some vulnerable individuals who have a hyperactive dopaminergic system and impaired prefrontal cortex function. Sustained and prolonged drug use induces incentive sensitization and an allostatic state that makes drugs strongly wanted and needed. Habit formation can also contribute to stabilizing sustained drug use. The last step, loss of control of drug intake and full addiction, is due to a second vulnerable phenotype. This loss-of-control-prone phenotype is triggered by long-term drug exposure and characterized by long-lasting loss of synaptic plasticity in reward areas in the brain that induce a form of behavioral crystallization resulting in loss of control of drug intake. Because of behavioral crystallization, drugs are now not only wanted and needed but also pathologically mourned when absent.
conclusionsThis general theory demonstrates that drug addiction is a true psychiatric disease caused by a three-step interaction between vulnerable individuals and amount/duration of drug exposure.
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