Integration of generalized vulnerability to drug and alcohol addiction

Nicotine addiction through a neurogenomic prism: ethics, public health, and smoking

Studies are under way to examine the neurogenetic factors contributing to smoking behaviors. The combined approaches of genomics, molecular biology, neuroscience, and pharmacology are expected to fuel developments in pharmacogenetics, to create new genetic tests, and ultimately to provide the basis for innovative strategies for smoking cessation and prevention. The emergence of a neurogenomic understanding of nicotine addiction is likely to induce fundamental changes in popular, clinical, and public health views of smoking, which could significantly shape existing practices and policies to reduce tobacco use. Still a nascent area of research, nicotine addiction provides an excellent case study through which to anticipate key ethical and policy issues in both behavioral genetics and the neurogenomics of addictive behaviors.

The role of brain emotional systems in addictions: a neuro-evolutionary perspective and new 'self-report' animal model

The evolutionary significance of neurochemical events in the brain has received minimal attention in the field of addiction research. Likewise, the general failure of neuroscientists to postulate how basic brain circuits might mediate emotional urges has retarded the development of scientific perspectives that could inform new inquiries into the underlying dynamics and treatment of addictions. In this paper, we revisit the argument that prototypically abused substances activate or alter specific emotional brain systems that were evolutionarily designed to signal potential increments or decrements in fitness. We then discuss two distinct emotional systems (reward seeking and separation distress) which may track different types of potential changes in fitness. Based on this evolutionarily inspired approach, we illustrate how a mammalian model of emotion (i.e. rodent ultrasonic vocalizations) may enable scientists to predict drug-related phenomena such as abuse potential, anatomical location of mediating neural substrates, and the psychological impact of withdrawal. We conclude by discussing some therapeutic and social implications of examining drug addiction processes with multiple emotional brain systems in mind.