Abstract
Tobacco smoking is the most frequent form of substance abuse. We provide a review of the neuroadaptive changes evidenced in human smokers with regard to the current neurobiological models of addiction. Addiction is thought to result from an interplay between positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcing effects of the drugs are mediated by striatal dopamine release, while negative reinforcement involves the relief of withdrawal symptoms and neurobiological stress systems. In addition, drug-related stimuli are attributed with excessive motivational value and are thought to exert a control on the behavior. This mechanism plays a central role in drug maintenance and relapse. Further neuroadaptive changes associated with chronic use of the drug consist of reduced responses to natural rewards and in the activation of an antireward system, related to neurobiological stress systems. Reduced inhibitory cognitive control is believed to support the development and the maintenance of addiction. The findings observed in human nicotine dependence are generally in line with these models. The current state of the research indicates specific neuroadaptive changes associated with nicotine addiction that need to be further elucidated with regard to their role in the treatment of nicotine dependence.
Highlights
With 1 billion smokers worldwide, tobacco dependence is considered a global public health problem [1]
According to the hypothesis that the positive reinforcing properties of the substances of abuse are mediated through DA transmission in regions associated with the cerebral reward system, we will present here neurochemical or structural changes observed in smokers in striatal regions and in the DA
DA release was shown to be associated with the mood changes elicited by nicotine [66] and to be modulated by genes associated with low resting dopamine tone [61]
Summary
With 1 billion smokers worldwide, tobacco dependence is considered a global public health problem [1]. Tobacco smokers generally underestimate the addictive effect of smoking and the detrimental consequences of smoking. The addictive property of tobacco is mainly caused by nicotine [4], an alkaloid that binds to neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors [5]. The reinforcing properties of nicotine have been demonstrated with the intravenous self-administration paradigm in rats [6], primates [7] and in human smokers [8]. Nicotine is often used to relieve these symptoms and nicotine addiction is characterized by high relapse probability after trying to quit smoking. Due to its high prevalence, its detrimental effect on health and the high rates of relapse, it is crucial to get a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence. We will provide a non-systematical overview of the neuroadaptive changes evidenced in human smokers with regard to the current neurobiological models of substance dependence
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