The Neurobiology of Addiction - National Institutes of …

VOL. 21, NO. 2, 1997101 Addiction can be defined from abehavioral viewpoint as repeat-ed self-administration of alco-hol or other drugs (AOD s) despiteknowledge of adverse medical andsocial consequences and attempts toabstain from AOD use. Typically, anaddicted person s daily activities arecentered on obtaining and consumingthe drug at the expense of social andoccupational commitments. Manyfactors contribute to the developmentof Addiction . A person s initial deci-sion to use a drug is influenced bygenetic, psychosocial, and environ-mental factors. Once it has entered thebody, however, the drug can promotecontinued drug-seeking behavior byacting directly on the over the past two decadeshas increased our understanding of theneural processes that underlie drug-seeking behavior. This article summa-rizes some of the molecular andcellular events in the brain that appearto be associated with Addiction .

lever to receive mild electrical pulses through the electrodes (figure B). Animals will self-administer electrical stimulation to certain brain regions at ... The experimenter can then measure the frequency with which the rat presses a lever to turn on the light in the absence of alcohol (i.e., condi-

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