New Approaches in Addiction Medicine

How can virtual reality help in treating addiction? How can we de-stigmatize addictive disorders? And how can we teach patients to cope with their situation? This special issue shows you how by focusing on key neurobiological approaches in addiction research. It summarizes results from the German Research Foundation (DFG) research group FOR 1617 on learning mechanisms in addiction and covers prominent topics related to Pavlovian conditioning and habitual and goal-directed behavior. It includes: Reviews of computational theories on reinforcement learning and the role of Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) in addiction research. The effects of approach bias modification on PIT performance and the relapse risk are reported. Regarding neurotransmitter systems, associations are reported between extrastriatal dopamine and symptom severity in patients with alcohol use disorder. Biological correlates of the interaction between the imagination of individual drinking situations and alcohol-related stimuli are discussed to emphasize the influence of drinking context on cue reactivity. Furthermore, this special issue provides information on how novel cognitive-behavioral approaches including virtual reality can improve the treatment of addictive behaviors, and how digital tools may revolutionize addiction research and assessment. The focus on learning mechanisms emphasizes the malleability of human behavior and aims to de-stigmatize addictive disorders and empower patients to cope with their challenging situation. Are you a researcher or clinician in this area? Then check out these new approaches for the prevention and treatment of addiction in the newest volume of Neuropsychobiology