UI STUDY TARGETS NEW FACTOR IN ADDICTION

A Malfunction Of The Brain's Decision-Making Ability May Contribute To
Addiction.

A new study by UI researchers may link addictions to a malfunction in the
brain's decision-making process, consequently enabling researchers to
better understand causes of addictions and methods used to treat them.

The research shows that addiction may be a developmental problem and that
people may be born with the malfunction, said Antoine Bechara, a UI
assistant professor of neurology and the head of the team that conducted
the study. The study, which was published in Neuropsychologia earlier this
year, may help disprove a myth that anyone is subject to an uncontrollable
addiction, such as one to gambling, alcohol, or drugs.

"People have made us believe that people who pump enough drugs or alcohol
into their system will become addicts," Bechara said.

Some people can ingest large quantities of drugs or alcohol and still not
become addicted because of their control over the decision-making process,
researchers say. Others only need a small amount to develop an addiction.

"If you group patients according to this, you can identify people who can
be easily helped, people who need help, and others who are somewhat
hopeless," Bechara said.

Researchers who carried out the clinical test, called the Iowa Gambling
Test, attempted to relate decision-making impairments to patients with
damage in an area of the brain that controls decision-making ability,
called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Many people who have addictions show no desire of getting help despite
negative consequences that may arise as a result of their addiction,
researchers say. Loss of occupation, prison sentences, fines, and even the
threat of losing their children do not deter some people from continuing
their addictions. The study, researchers say, may now attribute this to a
psychological disorder.

Bechara said the mental deficiency itself doesn't cause addiction, but
there are many contributing factors to an addiction. However, the study
could have important implications for future treatment.

"Just as drugs are being used to treat Alzheimer's Disease, the same
methods may be used to help treat the decision-making section of the
brain," he said.

Dan O'Leary, a UI research scientist in psychiatry who conducts research on
marijuana addiction, said he was optimistic about the implications of the
study.

"Obviously, the most hopeful [implication] is, if it is a cognitive nature,
we might be able to understand what directly causes addiction, making it
easier to treat it," he said.