Friend of the Devil: Negative Social Influences Driving Substance Use Disorders
Matthew B Pomrenze, Franciely Paliarin, Rajani Maiya
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience February 10, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.836996 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Addiction |
| Keywords | Prosocial behavior Substance abuse Aggression Abstinence Reward system Drug Psychotherapist Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 27 |
| Key findings | Argues that social experiences and drug-seeking behaviors share common circuit mechanisms and neurochemicals, and that MDMA research suggests a functional segregation and convergence of social and reward circuits relevant to treating substance use disorders. |
Abstract
Substance use disorders in humans have significant social influences, both positive and negative. While prosocial behaviors promote group cooperation and are naturally rewarding, distressing social encounters, such as aggression exhibited by a conspecific, are aversive and can enhance the sensitivity to rewarding substances, promote the acquisition of drug-taking, and reinstate drug-seeking. On the other hand, withdrawal and prolonged abstinence from drugs of abuse can promote social avoidance and suppress social motivation, accentuating drug cravings and facilitating relapse. Understanding how complex social states and experiences modulate drug-seeking behaviors as well as the underlying circuit dynamics, such as those interacting with mesolimbic reward systems, will greatly facilitate progress on understanding triggers of drug use, drug relapse and the chronicity of substance use disorders. Here we discuss some of the common circuit mechanisms underlying social and addictive behaviors that may underlie their antagonistic functions. We also highlight key neurochemicals involved in social influences over addiction that are frequently identified in comorbid psychiatric conditions. Finally, we integrate these data with recent findings on (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) that suggest functional segregation and convergence of social and reward circuits that may be relevant to substance use disorder treatment through the competitive nature of these two types of reward. More studies focused on the relationship between social behavior and addictive behavior we hope will spur the development of treatment strategies aimed at breaking vicious addiction cycles.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Mindfulness meditation–based pain relief: a mechanistic account | 2016 | Review | |
| Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents Animal models and cellular studies | 2018 | Review | |
| A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. | 2013 | Review | |
| The neuropsychopharmacology of cannabis: A review of human imaging studies | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- Oxytocin-dependent reopening of a social reward learning critical period with MDMA Nature April 3, 2019
- Distinct neural mechanisms for the prosocial and rewarding properties of MDMA Science Translational Medicine December 11, 2019
- Dual actions of 5‐MeO‐DIPT at the serotonin transporter and serotonin 5‐HT1A receptor in the mouse striatum and prefrontal cortex Neuropsychopharmacology Reports February 6, 2021
- The pharmacology and clinical pharmacology of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"). Pharmacological Reviews September 2003