Addiction is not a medical term, and the range of disorders included varies according to the beliefs of the beholder. Nonetheless, its lay usage and dictionary definitions reflect the common belief that at its core is surrender to habitual, self-destructive behavior. Like most psychiatric disorders, attempts to define diagnostic criteria must use terms and constructs from entirely different lan...

In the 30 years that I have been carrying out research into addiction, the question that I have been asked the most – particularly by those who work in the print and broadcast media – is whether there is such a thing as an ‘addictive personality’? Psychologists such as Sadava [1] have gone as far to say that ‘addictive personality’ is theoretically necessary, logically defensible, and empirical...

Illegal addictive drugs can lead to functional or structural impairment of the central nervous system. This review provides an overview of the structural imaging findings on CT, MR imaging, and conventional angiography related to chronic and acute abuse of the most commonly abused illegal drugs, including cannabis, organic solvents, and amphetamines and opioids and their respective derivatives....

Addictive drugs like cocaine, ethanol, and morphine activate signal transduction pathways that regulate brain gene expression. Such regulation is modulated by the presence of certain transcription factor proteins present in a given neuron. This article summarizes the effects of several addictive drugs on transcriptional processes contributing to the development of a drug-dependent state. The ch...