ABSTRACT
The tragic irony of addiction—the root of the ensuing emotional suffering, crippling loss of control, and irrepressibly self-destructive behavior—is that it arises from precisely the same interacting brain mechanisms that enable us to choose, think, and act in ways that keep us safe and make us happy. We have evolved an array of interacting neural systems for processing joy and displeasure, expectations and evaluations, immediate and long-term goals, and desire versus hedonic experience. When acting in harmony, these systems underpin our ability to successfully interact with constantly changing environments, and to flexibly learn (and learn to like) adaptive behaviors. Yet, when they are corrupted, decoupled, or adversely affected, the result can be the pathological desire, pursuit, and consumption patterns characteristic of addiction.
