What can Jane Goodall teach us about addiction?

Abstract

In 2017, Jane Goodall, the well-known primatologist, wrote a letter to the United States Food and Drug Administration criticising the use of animals to test brain-based theories of addiction. She reasoned that we already know about addiction by observing humans. Several scientists countered that research with humans cannot answer important questions about understanding, preventing, and treating addiction. This commentary draws on epidemiology, psychology, psychodynamic models, learning theories and existentialism. It highlights effective prevention and treatment approaches that are not based on brain models of addiction. Jane Goodall’s letter, has, perhaps unwittingly, provided a focal point for reconsidering what kind of research is required to further our understanding of addiction.