Theory explaining addiction wins Grawemeyer psychology award
University of Michigan researchers Kent Berridge and Terry Robinson have won the 2019 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology for explaining how our brains process âlikingâ versus âwantingâ and how neural sensitization of the âwantingâ system plays a key role in drug addiction.
âLikingâ and âwantingâ may sound like similar processes, but Berridge and Robinson found they are produced by different brain systems. âWantingâ is driven by large pathways in the brain that use the neurotransmitter dopamine, while âlikingâ is controlled in smaller, pleasure-generating hotspots that do not use dopamine.
The researchers proposed in their âIncentive-Sensitization Theory of Addictionâ that the dopamine system in addictsâ brains becomes hypersensitive to drugs and drug cues, which can produce excessive âwantingâ for drugs. This sensitization effect can last for years, making it harder for addicts to resist drugs even when they want to avoid them and get little pleasure from taking them.
Learning how to safely reverse that process could lead to a more effective way to treat addiction, they concluded.
âTheir idea has had a broad impact on how we understand drug addiction and other addictive compulsions such as gambling, binge eating and sex,â said Woody Petry, a University of Louisville psychology and brain sciences professor who directs the award. âIts scope also extends to brain disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.â
In 1993, when Berridge and Robinson first published their theory, it ran contrary to all thinking about pleasure systems in the brain. However, studies over the past 25 years have supported it, and their original paper on the subject has been cited in other publications more than 6,500 times, Petry said.
They both hold distinguished professorships in psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan. Together they received the 2016 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the American Psychological Association. Both have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and have received many other prestigious prizes.
Recipients of the 2019 Grawemeyer Awards are being named this week pending formal approval by university trustees. The annual, $100,000 prizes reward outstanding ideas in music, world order, psychology, education and religion. Winners will visit Louisville in April to accept their awards and give free talks on their winning ideas.
For more details on the psychology award contact Woody Petry at 502-852-6031 or woody.petry@louisville.edu.