CONDITIONING FACTORS IN DRUG-ABUSE - CAN THEY EXPLAIN COMPULSION

There is a good deal of clinical evidence suggesting that compulsion t o resume drug taking is an important part of the addiction syndrome. T he symptoms comprising motivation to resume drug use, namely craving a nd compulsion, have been studied experimentally in human subjects. Whi le much work remains to be done, there is evidence showing that these symptoms are influenced by learning. The research has been guided by a nimal studies demonstrating that drug effects can be conditioned. Much attention has been directed toward demonstrating the existence of dru g conditioning in human addicts and exploring the neurological structu res that may underlie such learned responses,We do not yet know the re lative importance of learning in the overall phenomenon of relapse, an d treatments based on conditioning principles are still under investig ation.