Maintaining addiction: role of frontal cortex

• How does the frontal cortex contribute to addiction?

  • The frontal cortex controls decision-making, impulse control, and attention

  • addiction alters brain circuits, causing the individual to prioritise addictive behaviours over other important activities
• How does the frontal cortex shift an activity from voluntary use to compulsive addiction?

  • over time, addiction hijacks attention and motivation, so the brain assigns excessive importance (salience) to drug-related cues, making it difficult to resist cravings even when the person no longer enjoys the behaviour
• What evidence supports the role of the frontal cortex in addiction?

  • robinson & berridge (2003): found that dopamine makes addicts want the behaviour, even if they no longer like it

  • Volkow et Al (1992): cocaine addicts show abnormalities in the frontal cortex

  • bolla et Al (2003): found impaired decision-making in drug addicts, showing the frontal cortex is compromised

  • wang et Al (1999): found increased frontal cortex activity when addicts were exposed to drug-related cues, reinforcing cravings