- Cravings are described as intense feelings of desire and wanting the substance one is trying to abstain from using/eating.
- Addicts describe these cravings as very unpleasant and growing stronger and stronger until they relapse.
- Studies have shown that while in a state of craving an individual frequently shows impaired cognitive processing, increasing reaction time, impaired working memory and poor decision making.
- A recent study demonstrated that visualizations and other forms of sensory imagery were observed in cravings across a range of substances, including food.
- Cue-induced cravings such as sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes activate the dopaminergic pathways in three brain regions (amygdala, nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex) which then in anticipation of receiving the substance, release dopamine into these brain areas.
- This then contributes to the assignment of salience to cues and development of learned associations.
- One of the features of this learned association is its persistence over time, even after years of recovery.
- Genetic, behavioral and brain imaging studies have all confirmed the neural activation of the brain pathways in response to cues.
References
- Blumenthal DM, Gold MS. Neurobiology of food addiction. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care. 2010; 13, 359-365.
- Berridge KC, Robinson TE, Aldridge JW. Dissecting components of reward: ‘liking’, ‘wanting’, and learning. Current Opin Pharmacol. 2009; 9(1), 65-73.
- Berridge KC, Ho CY, Richard JM, DiFeliceantonio AG. The tempted brain eats: pleasure and desire circuits in obesity and eating disorders. Brain Res. 2010; 1350, 43-64.
