The Neurobiology of Addiction

In the past two decades, there have been astonishing advances in our understanding of the neurobiological basis and nature of drug addiction. We now know the initial molecular sites of action, at identified receptors, of virtually all of the major drugs of abuse including cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine, as well as legal drugs such as nicotine and alcohol. We also understand the main components of a 'reward system' and its connections to major brain regions involved in motivation and emotion, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. The Neurobiology of Addictiondescribes the latest advances in our understanding of addiction. It brings together world class researchers to debate the nature and extent of addiction, as well as its causes, consequences, and treatment. The focus of the book is on the brain processes underlying addiction, in terms of neural systems, neurochemical basis, and molecular changes. Several types of addiction are discussed ranging from illicit drugs - cocaine, amphetamine, and heroin to legal drugs - alcohol and nicotine. In addition, it explores increasingly common behavioural addictions such as gambling and obesity. Included are chapters on vulnerability to addiction, genetic factors, opponent motivational processes, animal models, relapse, cognitive deficits associated with drug abuse, new pharmacological treatments, and current controversies concerning different neuropsychological theories of addiction. Throughout, it reports on cutting edge research using brain imaging, and state of the art molecular methodology. The book will make fascinating reading for students and teachers in the field of neuroscience, pharmacology and psychology, as well as experts in the field.

Professor Robbins is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He is also Director of the Cambridge MRC-Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), the main objective of which is to inter-relate basic and clinical research in psychiatry and neurology for such conditions as Parkinson's, Huntington's, and Alzheimer's diseases, frontal lobe injury, schizophrenia, depression, drug addiction, and developmental syndromes such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The BCNI has a particular focus on pharmacological treatments in neuropsychiatry and neurological disorders and how they actually work. Trevor has been President of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (1992-1994) and he won that Society's inaugural Distinguished Achievement Award in 2001. He was also President of the British Association of Psychopharmacology from 1996 to 1997. He a Fellow of the Royal Society David is currently the Edmond J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Department of Neuropsychopharmacology and Molecular Imaging at Imperial College London
He received his undergraduate training in medicine at Cambridge and Guy's Hospital, and continued training in neurology to MRCP. After completing his psychiatric training in Oxford, he continued there as a lecturer and then later as a Wellcome Senior Fellow in psychiatry. He then spent two years as Chief of the Section of Clinical Science in the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in NIH, Bethesda, USA. On returning to England in 1988 he set up the Psychopharmacology Unit in Bristol, an interdisciplinary research grouping spanning the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology. In December 2008 he joined Imperial College London as the Edmond J Safra Chair in Neuropsychopharmacology to concentrate on development of PET imaging. Professor Everitt graduated in Zoology and Psychology at Hull University, received a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, and undertook post-doctoral research at Birmingham and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, with the eminent neuroanatomists Tomas Hokfelt and Kjell Fuxe. He was appointed to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Cambridge in 1974, became a Fellow of Downing College in 1976, a tenured University Lecturer and a Director of Studies in Medicine at Downing in 1979. He has served on several national and international advisory committees and has been President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, the European Brain and Behaviour Society and the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), and has been awarded an Honorary D.Sc. by Hull University