Drug Addiction and Its Treatment: Nexus of Neuroscience and Behavior

Written by leading experts in the biomedical neurosciences and the behavioral sciences, this volume examines the behavioral and biological processes involved in drug addiction and suggests ways of integrating behavioral and pharmacological treatments. The first section reviews the scientific literature on the behavioral aspects of drug abuse, particularly recent animal and human studies of drug reinforcement. The second section examines the neurobiological correlates of drug reinforcement, tolerance, and physical dependence; the role of genetics in vulnerability to addiction; and the developmental consequences of in utero exposure to drugs. The third section describes state-of-the-art research techniques for studying the neurobiology of drug addiction, including topographical brain mapping, brain imaging, molecular cloning and characterization of receptors for drugs, and studies of how substance abuse affects gene expression. The final section details the strengths and weaknesses of current behavioral, psychosocial, and pharmacological treatments and explores various approaches to integrating these treatments.