Dworkin S I, Smith J E
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.
Alcohol Alcohol Suppl. 1991;1:39-47.
The existence of brain neuronal circuitry dedicated to hedonic processes was hypothesized after the demonstration that rats would emit a response that was followed by the presentation of a small electrical current to a discrete brain region (Olds and Milner, 1954). This concept had significant implications since it suggested that behavioral pathologies related to disruptions of these processes would have underlying physiological substrates that could be corrected by appropriate pharmacotherapeutic intervention. Affective disorders and substance abuse, which clearly involve these systems, could be more effectively treated if the biological mechanisms of these processes were known. Progress has been made in the pharmacotherapy of affective disorders; however, advancements in the treatment of substance abuse generally have been more limited. Several reasons for this limited progress are related to the complexity of the variables underlying these psychosocial disorders and to the constraints of the current somewhat simplified concepts of the biological basis of hedonic processes. The experimental evidence for the underlying biological substrates of reinforcement are reviewed and how this information may be used to develop new pharmacotherapeutic approaches to substance abuse discussed.
在证实大鼠会发出一种反应，随后会向一个离散的脑区施加小电流之后（奥兹和米尔纳，1954年），人们推测存在专门用于享乐过程的脑神经元回路。这一概念具有重大意义，因为它表明与这些过程中断相关的行为病理学将具有潜在的生理底物，可通过适当的药物治疗干预加以纠正。如果了解这些过程的生物学机制，那么明显涉及这些系统的情感障碍和药物滥用可能会得到更有效的治疗。在情感障碍的药物治疗方面已经取得了进展；然而，药物滥用治疗方面的进展总体上更为有限。进展有限的几个原因与这些心理社会障碍背后变量的复杂性以及当前享乐过程生物学基础的概念有些简化的局限性有关。本文回顾了强化潜在生物学底物的实验证据，并讨论了如何利用这些信息开发治疗药物滥用的新药物治疗方法。
