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| 'Wanting' - Incentive salience: Affective valence
in limbic microcircuits:
Addiction: Why is drug addiction so compulsive and long lasting? The distinction of 'wanting' from 'liking' has important implications found in the Incentive-Sensitization theory of addiction PDF. Addictive drugs can cause permanent neural sensitization in brain mesolimbic systems of incentive salience. Sensitized incentive salience means addicts have compulsive 'wanting' to take drugs, which can last months or years. Much neuroscience evidence has emerged to favor this theory in the 10 years since it was first proposed. We stress Incentive-Sensitization theory does not provide a cure for addiction, but it does help pinpoint a crucial aspect of what goes wrong. That understanding may eventually aid design of a more adequate cure. Basic affective neuroscience research on wanting and liking in our lab aims to better understand underlying mechanisms, which we hope will have direct implications for understanding addiction (Incentive sensitization research sample PDF; Addiction overview 1 PDF; Addiction overview 2 PDF). Other Human Applications: Incentive salience ÅewantingÅf mechanisms have implications for other forms of human irrational desire (Irrational overview PDF). We are also exploring how basic 'liking' / 'wanting' systems may relate to conscious and unconscious emotion processes in normal people (Unconscious overview PDF; see also P. Winkielman). |
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